
Book',-^f 



Coipght}^"_ 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



Industrial 
Life Insurance 

ITS HISTORY, STATISTICS 
AND PLANS 



ALSO 

HINTS TO INDUSTRIAL AGENTS 



Price, $2.00, Leather Bound 



1905 

THE SPECTATOR COMPANY 

135 William Street, New York 




LIBRARY of CONGRESS 

Two Copies Received 

MAR 17 1906 

^Copyright Entry ^ 

CLASS (X. AXd. No. 

COPY B. 



Copyright, igos, by 

The Spectator Company 

New York 



PREFACE 



THE business of Industrial Life Insurance has grown 
to immense proportions in this country, and 
while conferring inestimable benefits upon the 
working classes generally, gives employment to many 
thousands of persons. Most of these are silent workers, 
who, by house-to-house visits, spread the knowledge of 
life insurance benefits among those who are most in need 
of them. The companies doing this class of business 
have poured millions upon millions of dollars into the 
laps of the working men and women of the country at 
the time of their greatest need, when death had visited 
the family and removed some loved one. The com- 
panies have grown in magnitude as the character of 
their business became better understood, until they are 
now classed among the most substantial and trustworthy 
of our financial institutions. 

This publication is issued with the hope that it will 
prove a valuable aid to the field workers in Industrial 
Insurance, helping them in the work of education that 
they are pursuing, and at the same time prove helpful 
and instructive to them by giving them hints and sug- 



gestions as to the manner of conducting their canvass 
for business. 

To new beginners the work will be found replete with 
hints gathered from the experience of veteran solicitors, 
which, if heeded, cannot fail to contribute to the success 
of their efforts to build up a large and profitable business. 
These "Hints to Agents" have heretofore been printed, 
with numerous others, in the columns of The Spectator, 
which devotes much space to the subject of Industrial 
Insurance. It is at the request of many superintendents 
and assistant superintendents that these "Hints" are 
published in book form for permanent preservation and 
reference. Hoping that the work will meet with favor 
at the hands of the industrial army of workers, and that 
it may prove of value to them, we send it forth with the 
cordial greetings of 

THE SPECTATOR COMPANY. 
New York, April, 1905. 



SUMMARY OF CONTENTS 



Page 

Relation of Life Insurance to the Business World.. 9 

The First Industrial Insurance Company 13 

Insurance for the Working Classes 18 

Industrial vs. Ordinary Insurance 22 

Various Forms of Policies 27 

Insurance of Children 35 

Lapsing of Policies 4i 

Industrial Field Workers 5^ 

Official Record of Industrial Companies 59 

Amount Insured and Premiums 65 

Industrial Policy Forms 7° 

Hints to Agents 79-164 

Art of Canvassing. Making Collections. Some Things to 
Avoid. Honor Lists, etc. Assistant Superintendents and 
Agents. Seasons and Weather. Systematize Your Business. 
Starting Right. Promotion Open to All. Opportunity for 
Development. Individuality and Devotion to Business. 
How to Prevent Lapses. 



INDUSTRIAL 
LIFE INSURANCE 



RELATION OF LIFE INSURANCE TO THE 
BUSINESS WORLD 



If it were possible to eliminate the great system of 

insurance from the business world there would ensue 

such a financial cataclysm as has never yet been seen. 

There is not a department of modem 

Insurance industry, whether it be manufacture, 

an Essential n ^ 

Factor commerce or finance, that does not 

depend almost wholly upon insurance for 

its stability. Marine insurance, the original form of the 

system, protects not only the vessels which carry the 

goods of a nation to all parts of the world, but also the 

goods themselves. Fire insurance in part makes good 

the loss occasioned by the destructive element of fire, 

and in its various ramifications covers all incidental 

losses, such as the loss of rents on the real property 

destroyed, and the profits which would have accrued 

had there been no stoppage of business caused by fire. 

The various branches of miscellaneous insurance 

have now been extended so as to cover practically every 

contingency of modem business and social life, with the 

result that whatever cannot be predicted with absolute 

certainty may be insured against. By this system the 

fidelity of employees is guaranteed, so that any loss 



10 

occasioned by defalcation is made up in whole or in part ; 
bonds required of contractors for the faithful carrying 
out of their undertakings, or by the courts to insure the 
faithful administration of trusts, no matter what their 
nature, are now issued by insurance companies; the 
employer of labor, who is under the law held responsible 
for the effects of any accident happening to his work- 
men, while engaged in their usual vocations, whether in 
the factory or away from it, transfers the risk to the 
insurance companies for a consideration termed the 
premium; the merchant whose business requires the 
extension of credit to his customers can insure himself 
against any excessive losses by bad debts, and thus rest 
easy in the thought that no matter what misfortunes 
overtake his customers his profits will suffer no material 
diminution; losses by burglary or theft can be made 
good by this same system, and so it is possible to go on 
and enumerate the various forms of property loss all of 
which can be covered through the medium of an insur- 
ance policy. As new conditions arise, the system of 
insurance is found capable of adjusting itself to them 
so soon as an adequate amount of experience can be had, 
on which to base an average. 

Thus far reference has only been had to property 
losses, but the great bulk of the contributions of the 
inhabitants of the world for insurance is made for per- 
sonal protection. An accident happen- 

Personal j^g to an individual is as much a source 

Protection r ■, . ^ ■ r • • ^ • 

Guaranteed of loss to him as a lire occurring m his 

place of business, while sickness not 

only, in most cases, entails loss of salary, but also causes 

additional expense which must be met either by en- 



II 



croaching on savings or through the benefits paid under 
a health insurance policy. No man can afford to take 
upon himself the risk of loss caused by an accident, and 
as this fact is becoming more generally recognized the 
demand for personal accident insurance is steadily 

increasing. 

With one notable exception all branches of insurance 
provide indemnity against loss arising from unforeseen 
causes ; that is from causes which may or may not result 
in monetary loss. Fire insurance, for example, is car- 
ried, not because a fire is certain to occur but because it 
may occur. The money paid for that commodity year 
after year by the insured is considered a part of the 
necessary expenses of Uving or of business, and gives the 
assurance that should a loss occur more than several 
years' premiums will be needed to make it good. Briefly 
stated insurance companies gather premiums from the 
many to make good the losses sustained by the few. 
It is impossible to foretell what particular policyholder 
is going to suffer a loss, but it is sure that a certain pro- 
portion will find it necessary to call upon the companies 
to make good losses sustained. The one policy of 
insurance which is certain to be matured through the 
happening of the contingency insured against, is a life 
insurance policy. It is absolutely certain that every 
person must die sooner or later, and, if he is insured, the 
company has to pay the policy. The uncertainty in 
this contract relates only to the time when it shall become 
a claim. Of the three main branches of insurance, Hfe 
insurance, although now the most important, was about 
the last to have its importance fully recognized. Some- 
thing like a century and a half ago the first attempt was 



12 

made to insure lives on a scientific basis, and although 
the system has since been brought to a high state of 
perfection, it is worth noting that its foundation prin- 
ciples have never been changed, and all attempts to 
write life insurance in violation of those principles have 
resulted in failure. 

For about a century after the first real life insurance 
company had been formed the plan had been looked upon 
as one suitable only for those in comparatively com- 
fortable circumstances, and during the whole hundred 
years only a very small amount of 
of Slow^Gn)^th business had been written. The growth 
of the system was extremely slow, 
owing in large measure to the prejudice existing in the 
mind of the public against receiving any money indem- 
nity on the death of a near relative, even though that 
relative was the head of the family and responsible for 
its support. It took several generations for this view 
to be modified, and every agent knows that it exists to 
some extent to-day, although comparatively little 
argument is now required to offset it. 

If this was the case with the more enlightened portion 
of the general public, it would scarcely be surprising to 
find a similar feeling prevailing among the poorer classes. 
On the contrary, however, there seems to have prevailed 
from the earliest ages of civilized nations and peoples a 
desire to make some provision for, at least, the burial 
expenses of the artisan class. This may have had its 
origin in the respect for the dead inculcated as far back 
as the days of the early Romans, and which was partic- 
ularly noticeable among the peoples of Anglo-Saxon 
origin. In order that the dead might be decently interred 



13 

the Guilds, which flourished in the Middle Ages, laid 
particular stress upon the obligations which the members 
owed each other in this respect. When the Guilds were 
broken up and their members dispersed in the time of 
Henry VIII. there sprung into existence a number of 
Friendly Societies and burial clubs, whose objects were 
to carry out the more important functions fulfilled by the 
Guilds, that of burying the dead. Their plans, as far as 
any record of them exist, were of the crudest, and it was 
not until the system of life insurance, as introduced in 
the eighteenth century, had proved itself capable of 
making absolute provision for the families of deceased 
policyholders, that an attempt was made to apply its 
principles to the insuring of the working classes in 
amounts sufficient to provide funeral benefits. 

The first company to thus extend the benefits of life 
insurance on scientific principles to the working or indus- 
trial classes took the name of the Industrial and General, 
and was incorporated in the year 1849. 

The First Indus- Five years later the company was taken 
trial Insurance . . t^ -, • 1 a ^ 

Company over by the Prudential Assurance Cor- 

poration of England, and the great 
system of industrial insurance has been built up by the 
efforts and example of that corporation, so that its 
influence is now felt for good in nearly all the civilized 
countries of the world, although it has reached its highest 
point of perfection in English speaking countries. During 
the fifty years in which the Prudential of England has 
been practicing this plan its operations have increased 
to such an extent that it now has upwards of fifteen 
millions of industrial policies in force, and as it has 
confined its operations to the British Isles, it is able to 



14 

claim that it has one in every three of the population 
insured with it. 

In the United States the system of industrial insur- 
ance is of comparatively recent origin, but its growth 
has been on a par with the phenomenal development of 
the so-called ordinary life insurance companies, some of 
which lead the world in the magnitude of their trans- 
actions. Although several companies had been incor- 
porated in the United States during the first half of the 
nineteenth century to transact the business of life 
insurance, little real headway was made until the estab- 
lishment of the Mutual Life Insurance Company of New 
York in the year 1843. The companies previously 
organized either confined their transactions to particular 
classes, or operated other lines of business which seemed 
to give more chances of profit than life insurance. 
Following the example set by the English companies the 
business here was restricted to the form calling for annual, 
semi-annual and quarterly premiums on contracts for 
one thousand dollars and upwards. No effort was made 
for some years to provide insurance for the working 
classes, the very ones which stood most in need of it in 
order to avoid the ignominy of a pauper 
. burial. Owing to the fact that they 

Schemes for were not provided for in the scheme 

Workmen's In- operated by the life insurance companies 

SUir3.IlC6 

the workingmen themselves undertook 
to supply the deficiency by forming co- 
operative societies, the idea being to provide a burial 
fund on the death of a member by calls for small amounts 
upon those living. These societies were of the crudest 
form and, so far from achieving the object sought, 



15 

became more of a menace to the general public through ^ 
their numerous failures, causing their members to become 
objects of public charity during illness and at death 
causing their families to become public charges. The 
value of industrial insurance as practiced in England, 
dating from a time only five years after the establishment 
of the first real American life insurance company, was 
very slow in obtaining recognition in this country. 

It is not to be understood that the need for life 
insurance among the poorer classes was not recognized 
by those interested in the general subject. More than 
one attempt was made to put into effect a scheme of life 
insurance calling for small amounts of premium at short 
intervals which would give workingmen a chance to 
provide absolutely secure insurance payable at death. 
One company as far back as 1847 offered a life insurance 
contract to be paid for in weekly premiums of twenty- 
five or fifty cents, but the plan was not popular and was 
speedily abandoned. In the light of the development of 
the weekly premium business since that time, this early 
failure may be laid to the fact that no provision was 
made for the collection of premiums each week, the 
insured evidently having been expected to call at the 
company's office with them. tC 

During the twenty years which followed this attempt ^ " 
to meet the insurance needs of the working classes for 
insurance the level-premium companies neglected the 
subject almost entirely, due no doubt to the fact that 
the problems of their own business, and the education 
of the public to its benefits required their undivided 
attention. As has been stated, the solving of the problem 
was left to the initiative of the workingmen themselves, 



i6 

with but slight assistance from those familiar with the 
principles of life insurance. In the early fifties there 
was an attempt made to establish so-called health insur- 
ance companies with a view of furnishing weekly pay- 
ments to those disabled by sickness, coupled with a 
small funeral benefit in the event of death. These 
companies, being based on unscientific theories, did not 
succeed in impresvsing the public with their worth and 
soon disappeared, leaving their members to regret the 
money they had put into them. 

Meanwhile the imperative need of extending the 

benefits of the life insurance system to the masses had 

come to be clearly recognized, and with the boom which 

life insurance companies enjoyed follow- 

Attempts to Float j^g the close of the civil war the subject 
Industrial Com- . . . . ^ 

panics received more and more attention at 

the hands of those whose duties brought 
them in contact with life insurance. Commencing with 
the year 1868 efforts were made to establish life insurance 
companies especially for the benefit of the working 
classes, the cities of New York, Chicago and New Orleans 
being the homes of actual incorporations of this char- 
acter. None of these efforts however, met with any 
success, and the names of the companies are now but 
memories. It seems strange, at this time, that but little 
effort had been made up to the year 1868 to understand 
the workings of the English exponent of industrial 
insurance, the Prudential Assurance Corporation, and 
that its main feature, the payment of weekly premiums 
by house-to-house collection had been entirely over- 
looked. The idea of those who had endeavored to 
provide some scheme of insurance for the masses seems 



17 

to have been that what was wanted was cheap insur- 
ance, and working on that idea, nothing but failure was 
possible, in the same way that all plans of providing 
cheap insurance have since failed, to the extreme dis- 
appointment of those who have put their faith in them. 
Although efforts to establish insurance companies for 
the purpose of providing life insurance for the masses 
were renewed from time to time, nothing could be accom- 
plished until the essential fact was grasped that the 
masses must have the contracts taken to their homes or 
places of business and the premiums collected at the 
same places week by week. Singularly enough this 
plan was first accepted in the United States by persons 
outside the insurance business. In the year 1869 and 
subsequent years some of the regular life insurance 
companies entered into arrangements with outside 
organizations, whereby they agreed to furnish insurance 
to the members of such organizations at regular rates on 
acceptable lives. The first arrangement of this kind 
was made with a German society of Cincinnati, which 
undertook to collect from its members weekly premiums 
for the insurance furnished and to pay the life insurance 
company on a quarterly basis. Under this plan the 
company received neither more nor less than the regular 
quarterly premium, nor did it have aught to do with the 
collection of the premiums from the individual members. 
The society was a soliciting and collecting agency, while 
the insurance company stood in the same position to it 
as though it had insured the employees of a large estab- 
lishment, and looked to the proprietors of the establish- 
ment for the payment of the premium at stated intervals 
through the year. 



\ 



i8 



INSURANCE FOR THE WORKING CLASSES 



In the year 187 1 there was pubhshed a paper on the 
subject of industrial insurance by Henry Harben, of the 
Prudential, of London, which served to revive interest 
in the subject in the United States. The paper, while 
ostensibly a history of the Prudential itself, went so 
thoroughly into the subject that it evoked the earnest 
attention of life insurance managers on both sides of the 
Atlantic. Correspondence was had with Mr. Harben 
on the subject by parties in the United States, and that 
gentleman went so far as to frame an act under which 
the plan could be operated and furnished the necessary 

forms and schedules. From that time 
Official Recogni- on an active propaganda was carried on 
f JTAhe WwMng^ looking to the establishment of a com- 
Classes pany which would do for the working 

classes of the United States what the 
Prudential was doing for those of England. Various 
plans were devised and offered to the public, meeting 
with apparent success for a time, but were subsequently 
abandoned, either because they complicated the question 
or failed to take cognizance of the fact that insurance 
for the family was demanded, in such amounts as could 
be purchased by a small proportion of the weekly wages 
of the head of the family. 

By the year 1874 the continued growth of the 
Prudential, of London, had attracted such attention 
that the Insurance Commissioner of Massachusetts, 
Hon. Julius L. Clarke, felt it incumbent upon him to 



19 

direct the attention of the legislature of his State to the 
subject through the medium of his annual report. 
Among other things he said: — 

"The term (industrial insurance) is applied with 
sufficient appropriateness to insurance for small amounts, 
supposed to be particularly adapted to the wants of 
persons of small means, who are engaged in various 
industrial pursuits. * * * Though it does not, like 
the old Friendly Societies, guarantee allowances in sick- 
ness, yet, like them it adjusts the amount of insurance to 
the premium paid; that is to say, instead of naming 
certain sums as the premiums for which it will insure 
the payment of ten, a hundred, or a thousand pounds at 
death, it offers certain amounts of insurance in return 
for the payment of small fixed sums each week ; such as 
one penny, two-pence, three-pence or four-pence, as the 
case may be. Like the Friendly Societies, also, the 
company sends its collectors from house to house and 
collects the premiums weekly. ****** 
One of the objections made to the company's 
mode of doing business is, that it grants insurance 
on the lives of young children. This was the prac- 
tice of the Friendly Societies, and in regard to them, 
also, the objection was urged that the practice held out 
inducements to infanticide. The managers of the 
Friendly Societies contended in reply, that the character 
of poor people is not such as entitles the objection to 
weight, and for the credit of human nature it is hoped 
they were right. They maintained further, that even if 
the danger existed, which they denied, it might be amply 
guarded against by requiring proper medical examina- 
tions and certificates. The contract of life insurance 
being unlike that covering a fire or marine risk, a con- 
tract of indemnity, it is not absolutely necessary that 
the interest in the life insured should be of a pecuniary 
nature. The parental relation in itself is all that is 
required to support the contract. Were a pecuniary 



20 

interest requisite, life insurance might still be properly 
invoked to provide against extraordinary expenses forced 
upon a poor man by sickness or death in his family, as 
well as to compensate him for the loss of aid and assist- 
ance derived from the services of the child. 

In addition to explaining the system of industrial 
insurance in its relation to the families of the industrial 
classes, as given above, Mr. Clarke also took up some of 
the objections which had been urged against it on the 
ground of heavy expenses. In this connection he said: 

It has also been stated that the rates charged by the 
Prudential upon its small policies are unreasonably high 
in proportion to those usually charged upon policies of 
large amounts. * * * It is unnecessary for our 
purpose to examine in detail the Company's mode of 
doing business, for if the prices it charges are out of 
proportion to the benefits it confers, the proper ratio 
will ere long be established by competition. 

As insurance commissioner for several years, Mr. 
Clarke had cause to note the distress caused by the 
failure of numerous organizations which had set out to 
furnish cheap insurance to the poorer classes. Accord- 
ingly he laid stress on the importance of companies 
transacting industrial insurance having ample financial 
strength, for the reason that 

The number of persons whose happiness is staked 
upon the solvency of institutions of the latter class is 
larger, and they are persons whose situation is such that 
the distress produced by disappointment is more cruel. 

The thorough exposition of the industrial insurance 
plan given by a person of official standing, and so 
emphatically endorsed by him, seemed the last step 
necessary to put into action the forces requisite for the 



21 



complete adoption of the system on lines similar to 
those followed for nearly a quarter of a 
Working Qasses century previously in England. In the 
agitation which preceded the adoption 
of the system in the United States it had gradually come 
to be recognized that what the working classes desired \. 
was, first, absolute safety; second, small weekly pre- 
miums; third, the collection of those premiums as they 
became due by representatives of the company; and 
fourth, insurance for all the family from the child of one 
year to the old person of seventy. Insurance policies 
with premiums payable monthly were unsuitable, 
because they involved the carrying of them to the office 
of the company, in addition to a heavier drain upon the 
wage earner's resources through inability to lay by a 
certain vSum of money each week ; cheap insurance had 
been tried and found wanting, because the distress 
caused by disappointment was much greater among this 
class; the regular life insurance companies, while willing, 
perhaps, to arrange their premium payments to meet 
in part the requirements of this class, did not offer all 
that was needed inasmuch as they did not accept risks 
upon the lives of children. 

One of the economic causes leading up to the actual ' 
launching of the industrial insurance system in the 
United States, as that system is now understood, was 
the absolute need of insurance protection for the family 
caused by prevailing epidemics of infectious diseases, 
by a high death rate from consumption, and an inor- 
dinate mortality among children in the early seventies, 
Statistics for ten of the principal cities of the country 
during the period 1870-4 show a death rate of twenty-six 



22 

in the thousand, while children under five years of age 
represented forty-eight per cent, of the mortality rate. 
The extent of misery and want caused by this heavy 
death rate cannot be measured, but it can fairly be 
deduced from the bare statement of fact that life insur- 
ance for the family had become an imperative necessity, 
so that a provision could be made for a certain sum in 
the event of the death of the father, the mother or the 
child. As an indication of the relief industrial insurance 
has afforded the tax-paying public, it may be stated 
here that the pauper burial rate has shown a steady 
diminution since the working classes have been enabled, 
by small weekly payments, to provide a burial fund 
for each and every member of the family. In the years 
1870-4 the pauper burials averaged about twenty per 
ten thousand of population ; from 1881-5 the rate in 
eighteen cities was 18.5 while in 1897-01 the rate 
dropped to 12.9. While the industrial companies can- 
not claim all the credit for this decided drop in the 
average — more prosperous times for the working classes 
having some effect upon it — yet those in a position to 
know realize that the proceeds of an industrial policy 
have been instrumental in thousands of cases in prevent- 
ing the ignominy of a burial in Potter's field. 

Compared with ordinary life insurance there is no 
difference in the foundation principles of industrial or 
weekly -premium insurance. Under both plans a recog- 
nized mortality table is essential for the 
cTdSarv ^^ proper establishment of adequate rates ; 

both recognize that the increased cost 
of the later years of life must be provided for by an excess 
of premiums collected in the early years, and conse- 



23 

quently both systems make provision for the creation of 
reserve funds so as to insure the absolute payment of 
every dollar of insurance carried. The main differences 
in the two systems lie in the methods of operation, the 
age of the person insured being always considered in the 
adjustment of the premiums, and these can best be 
summarized as follows: 



THE INDUSTRIAL PLAN 

Premiums Payable weekly. 



Premiums Collected by agents of 
the company who call 
at the home of the 
insured. 

Amounts $15 to $500 on a sin- 
gle policy. 

Amounts Amounts of insurance 
adjusted to unit pre- 
mium. 

Amounts Certain amounts of 

insurance can be pur- 
chased for a pre- 
mium of five cents or 
multiples thereof. 

Every member of the 
family can be insured 
for small premium. 



THE ORDINARY PLAN 

Payable annually, 
semi-annually or 
quarterly. 

Payable at the office 
of the company by 
the insured, either in 
person or by mail. 

$500 to $250,000 on a 
single policy. 

Premium is adjusted 
to amount. 

Amount is in round 
numbers, usually in 
multiples of $1,000. 



As a rule only the 
adults, and frequently 
only the head of the 
family, are insured 
for a proportionately 
large amount. 



From the above summary it can readily be seen that 
the weekly premium plan necessarily entails a consider 



24 

ably higher ratio of expense than the ordinary plan. 

With premiums payable weekly there are fifty-two 

chances of the policy lapsing as against at the most four 

under the ordinary plan, and if the insured were to be 

left to themselves to carry the premiums to the office of 

the company the lapse ratio would render it impossible 

to carry on the business. With the ordinary companies 

the duties of the agent so far as any particular policy is 

concerned may be said to end with the delivery of the 

policy and the payment of the first premium, as after that 

the insured deals directly with the company, remitting 

his premiums as they become due to the head or branch 

offices as directed. The agent of the industrial company 

must keep in constant touch with his policyholders, or>ce 

their applications are secured, by calling each week in 

the year for the necessary premium, watching for any 

possible addition to the amount of insurance that 

changed circumstances may warrant, and even taking to 

them the amount called for by the policy when death 

occurs. The company must be duly compensated for 

all this service, as also for the necessary expenses of 

those field-workers set over him, in addition to the home 

ofiice employees where the minutest detail of millions of 

policies in force must be attended to. 

The development of the weekly premium business in 

the United States has been of surpassing interest. It is 

scarcely more than a quarter of a century since the 

system first took root, yet to-day there 

Marvellous De- ^re upwards of fifteen million industrial 
velopment of the ,. , . . ,, -, i r .1 

Business policies m lorce on the books 01 the 

several companies, under which they 

are obligated to pay upwards of $2,000,000,000. Over 



25 

one million policies a year are being added to this vast 
total, and there seems at present no limit to the future 
growth of the business, for the companies are assiduously 
cultivating every corner of the field in which they 
operate, so that no individual capable of being insured 
shall be omitted from their canvass. Some idea of the 
possible growth of the business may be obtained from 
the results achieved in one State of the Union. New 
Jersey is the home of one of the larger industrial com- 
panies and consequently has had closer attention than 
most other States. As a result, with a population of 
approximately 1,900,000, there are in force 1,550,000 
industrial policies, representing an estimated insured 
population of over one million persons. The city of 
Newark, one of the leading manufacturing centres of the 
country, shows up much better than this, for with a 
population of 250,000, there are upwards of 275,000 
policies in force, indicating that over four-fifths of the 
population is insured in industrial companies. 

In spite of this magnificent showing the canvass 
for new business in that State is as active as ever, each 
year showing a larger number of policies in force. What 
has been accomplished in one State is an indication of 
what can be accomplished elsewhere. As an official of an 
industrial company remarked in a review of the growth 
of this business. 

It is not going too far to anticipate the time, cer- 
tainly within another quarter of a century, when the 
results obtained in New Jersey will be general for the 
country at large, and when of the industrially insurable 
population of the cities, four-fifths will be policyholders 
in industrial companies. Thus far the business has been 



26 

largely confined to the cities, but by degrees the opera- 
tions of district managers have been extended to the 
rural and agricultural sections indicating possibilities of 
development and growth in a new direction and in a new 
field. Even among the more prosperous elements of our 
population our statistics indicate that among trades 
and in the professions there are many to whom an indus- 
trial policy is a safeguard against an hour of need. 

Those who have studied the remarkable growth of the 
business in the past quarter of a century, and particu- 
larly during the last decade, will readily agree that the 
foregoing is no fanciful, overdrawn sketch, but a simple 
plain statement of what may be expected. Every 
indication points to a continued growth in greater pro- 
portion than in past years, especially so as the great 
masses of the population are now fairly familiar with 
the system and its benefits. The steady increase of ten 
per cent, in the population from one census to another 
alone affords a vast number of new insurants for these 
companies, nor must it be forgotten that the second 
generation is now coming forward to claim the benefits 
of industrial insurance which their parents were the first 
to take advantage of. With this class the work of the 
industrial agent is much simplified as they have already, 
in many instances, seen the practical operation of the 
system in the payment of benefits at death exemplified 
among their own immediate relatives. 



27 



VARIOUS FORMS OF POLICIES 



The early industrial policies presented for the con- 
sideration of the public in this country were framed in 
an endeavor to meet what was supposed to be the needs 

of the working classes through a pro- 
disability as well vision for disability by sickness, old age, 
vided for and death. That is, they provided for 

a weekly indemnity during sickness, for 
an annuity in old age, and a burial fund at death. Pro- 
vision was also made for a burial fund at death for 
children, no child being accepted, however, until it had 
passed its first birthday. The sickness insurance feature v 
was speedily discontinued as experience demonstrated 
that it could not be carried on without charging a rate 
practically prohibitive to the working classes, a condition 
which even at this day confronts the companies endeav- 
oring to write health policies at a practically uniform 
rate for all ages. The annuity feature, too, failed to 
meet with any considerable amount of approval, inas- 
much as the amounts required to be paid to procure an 
independence in old age were beyond the means of those 
it was desired to interest. The infantile and adult 
burial funds therefore became the important parts of 
the business, and the other branches are now obsolete. 
In keeping with the policies of the ordinary com- 
panies the first industrial policies were hedged about with 
restrictions, most of which have since been removed. 



28 

One of the first forms of contract covering only the 
death benefit provided for its forfeiture: 

"If the said person shall, without the written consent 
of the said company endorsed hereon, go beyond the 
settled limits of the United States, or the British Prov- 
inces, in North America; or if the said person shall die 
by the hands of justice or by suicide, whether sane or 
insane, or in consequence of the use of intoxicating 
drinks, opiates or narcotics; or of being engaged in any 
unlawful act." 

The same policy also provided that: 

"The person insured under this policy shall not, 
without the written consent of the company, enter into 
any military or naval service (except the militia, when 
not in actual service), or engage in the manufacture of 
gunpowder, fire-works, or other explosive substances, 
or in submarine operations." 

All these restrictions have now been swept away, 
and, once issued, the policies are practically subject only 
to the one condition of the payment of premium. During 
the Spanish-American War the industrial companies 
waived their right of consent to engagement in military 
and naval service and paid all claims arising from death 
in such service with the same promptness as under 
ordinary circumstances. 

In order that the full benefit of the industrial policy 
might be availed of when most needed, one of the car- 
dinal principles embodied in the early announcement of 
the plan was the prompt payment of 
me^ o*f cfaims claims. The poHcies from the start set 
forth that the company would pay the 
amount due upon satisfactory proof of the decease of the 



29 

insured. At that time the ordinary companies reserved 
to themselves the right to withhold payment of the claim 
for the space of thirty, sixty and in some cases, ninety 
days after receipt of proofs of death. To the industrial 
classes such a restriction would have been intolerable, 
inasmuch as in the event of a death occurring in the 
family the need of an immediate sum in cash is impera- 
tive. Accordingly the wisdom of immediate payment 
of claims was seen to be an advantage not only to the 
insured but to the companies as well, as it gave their 
representatives an opportunity to afford a practical 
illustration of the benefits of a policy in an industrial 
company. The ordinary policyholders were also the 
gainers by this departure, for the example of the indus- 
trial companies was quickly followed, and now practically 
every life insurance company in the country makes it a 
point of paying its claims immediately on receipt of 
satisfactory proof of death. As the business of the 
industrial companies extended, and their methods became 
simpler, the prompt payment of claims was facilitated 
by allowing the superintendents to pay all cases on 
which there were no complications,' without referring the 
matter to the home office, so that in a large majority of 
cases the amount of the claim is in the hands of the 
beneficiaries before the funeral services are arranged 
for. 

It should be clearly understood that while the system 
of industrial insurance had been practised in England 
for a generation before its introduction into the United 
States, there were grave difficulties in the way of trans- 
planting it bodily to this country. Conditions among 
the working classes differed materially in the two 



30 

countries, so that it was necessary for the companies to 
proceed cautiously and gain their own experience before 
attempting to offer any benefits other than the payment 
of the policy. For this reason the original policies were 
absolutely forfeitable in event of lapse, no matter how 
many years the premiums had been regularly paid 
thereon. As the business gradually developed and 
experience accumulated it was found that some return 
could be made to those who, after payment of premiums 
for several years, were forced to give up their policies, 
and accordingly in 1892 it was announced that a paid- 
up policy would be granted in the event 
Paid-up Qf ii^Q lapse of a policy on which pre- 

Allowed miums had been paid for five or more 

years. This feature was incorporated 
in the form of contract then issued, and was made 
retroactive so as to apply to all existing contracts. In 
this connection let it be said that nearly every improve- 
ment made in their contracts, or concessions granted 
thereon by industrial companies have been voluntarily 
extended to all existing policies, so that no new privilege 
has been granted to new members at the expense of 
those who preceded them in the ranks. In this respect 
the industrial companies have set an example which the 
ordinary companies have failed, in most cases, to follow. 
Subsequently the paid-up option was extended to those 
who lapsed after the completion of three years' payments, 
so that now the principle of non -forfeiture has become 
firmly established in industrial insurance practice. 

Besides the voluntary adoption of the non-forfeiture 
principle, the industrial companies have from time to 
time adopted a long list of concessions, which can best 



31 

be stimmed up in the remarks made by the president of 
one of the companies as follows: 

Among the first important innovations was the 
granting of paid-up policies, applicable to all adult 
insurances in force. To encourage these the company 
ruled that the agents should in their compensation 
T .- J not be charged with policies lapsed in 

Concessions order to obtain paid-up policies. Sub- 

sequently, when the first panic struck 
the business, and mills and factories were closed, general 
business was prostrated and the industrial classes 
throughout the country were deprived of employment, 
lapses in large numbers supervened. To meet the 
hardship thus imposed upon the policyholder, so soon 
as good times began to dawn, we offered to reinstate in 
full, immediate benefit, all the lapsed policies through- 
out the country, a year old, the forfeiture of which had 
been produced by the pressure of hard times; further, 
to all whose policies were five years old who had been 
forced to drop out by stress of circumstance, a paid-up 
policy was offered, without restriction; or in lieu, a 
new policy without medical examination, in full im- 
mediate benefit, and without the payment of a penny 
in arrears. * * * Jn the several periods of indus- 
trial depression since, like liberality has been promptly 
extended. Later the paid-up privileges were extended 
and following this a material increase was made in the 
amount of these paid-up insurances. And later still 
a valuable concession to prevent lapses has been made. 
Whenever a policy lapses after being five years in force, 
the home office addresses a personal letter to the holder 
offering him the option of (i) a paid-up policy according 
to the company's rules; or (2) the whole reserve on his 
policy to be credited in payment of weekly premiums 
as far as it will go on a new policy, in full immediate 
benefit, for an amount which his old rate of premium 
will purchase at present age, without medical examina- 



32 

tion and with privilege of continuance at the expiration 
of this extension of his insurance. Again, the pul- 
monary and consumption clause — under which death 
from these causes, within the first year of the policy, 
produced but half the amount otherwise payable — 
was eliminated, and the elimination was made retro- 
active, i.e., applicable to all the policies in force. The 
form of policies was greatly improved by omitting the 
warranty in the applications for policies not large 
enough in amount to call for regular medical examina- 
tions. The whole contract was contained in the policy 
itself, which was avoided only in case of the insured 
having had a disease not mentioned in the blank space 
provided in the policy. And to protect the holder from 
the consequence of oversight or misunderstanding, he 
was given the right within two weeks after receiving his 
policy, to return the same and take back the prerniums 
paid. Next, increased benefits were granted on infan- 
tile policies — at some ages doubling the insurance — with 
no increase of premium, and this was also made retro- 
active as to old, existing policies. * * * At the end of 
1896, although under no legal obligation by contract or 
precedent to pay a dollar, a dividend was declared and 
this practice has been followed annually since. * * * 
During the recent war with Spain the industrial insured 
could enter the military or naval service of the United 
States without restriction and without extra cost. 
This applied alike to policies outstanding when hostil- 
ities were declared, irrespective of whether or no the 
policies contained a war clause, and to all policies 
issued or revived during the continuance of the war. 
The internal revenue tax was also paid by the company 
and not charged against the individual policyholder. 
In other words, the war made no difference whatever 
in the relations of the assured to the company, either 
as to freedom of action or to the cost of the insurance. 
Finally all our industrial policies now provide that if 
their terms are not satisfactory to the assured, or if 



33 

the conditions are not accepted and agreed to, the policy 
may, within two weeks, be returned to the company, 
and all the premiums paid will be refunded. This 
gives an opportunity to correct misunderstandings, if 
any, and to obviate future causes of just complaint. 

When the magnitude of the industrial business is 
considered it can be readily seen that the above con- 
cessions, together with others not covered in this sum- 
mary, have cost the companies large sums of money. 
A reasonable estimate covering the period from 1892 
when the first concession, that of paid-up policies, was 
made, down to the end of 1904, is that some ten million 
dollars have been awarded to the policyholders over and 
above the amounts contemplated in their contracts. 
In addition to the concessions named 

Increased Liber- ^s applicable to old policies, the con- 
ality to Policy- ^ f^. , ^- ^ ^- -1 

holders tracts have, from time to time, under- 

gone certain modifications resulting 
in increased liberality to the insured. Thus the death 
benefits have from time to time been increased, and 
most companies now make provision for an increase 
in the amount payable at death after the policy has 
been in force a given number of years. Originally 
industrial policies were all non-participating, but policy- 
holders are now admitted to a share in the accumu- 
lated surplus, the method of division varying with the 
different companies. One company pays a cash divi- 
dend equal to ten weeks' premiums at the end of every 
fifth year of the policy ; another pays dividends at the 
end of fifteen years and every fifth year thereafter^ 
the amount being equitably computed according to the 
contribution made to the surplus in the period ; some of 



34 

these dividends have reached as high as two years' 
premiums ; a third declares a dividend at the end of five 
years and annually thereafter, while a fourth declares 
dividends at the end of each five years of the policy's 
existence. These dividends form a great inducement 
to the insured to continue their policies in force and 
thus help to reduce the lapse ratio. Cash surrender 
values are also provided for by some of the companies, 
although they are not likely to be availed of to any 
large extent, owing to the comparative ease with which 
the premiums are paid after years of systematic pay- 
ment. It is not felt that it is proper to encourage the 
surrender of industrial policies as they are essentially 
for protection purposes, and every effort is made on the 
part of the company to keep them in force. 



35 



INSURANCE OF CHILDREN 



The tremendous amount of good accomplished by 
industrial insurance has been generally recognized by 
all interested in the amelioration of the conditions sur- 
rounding the working classes, and particularly the 
tenement -house dwellers in our large cites. From time 
to time, however, some misguided workers have attacked 
the system on the ground that it tends to lavish and 
extravagant funerals, and they incidently drag in the 
high cost of the protection furnished, entirely ignoring 
the fact that agents have to be employed to collect 
premiums every week in the year, instead of the policy- 
holders sending the amount due to the office, once, 
twice or four times a year, as is the case with ordinary 
insurance. Fortunately for the companies, it has 
required little effort to disprove these charges, as they 
have been able to show that the average industrial claim 
does little more than provide the necessary expenses of 
a funeral and pay the bills incurred by reason of the 
prolonged sickness which often precedes death among 
that section of the population. The most rabid attacks 

however, have been made on that part 
Infantile ^^ ^-^^ system which furnishes a funeral 

benefit on the lives of children from the 
age of one year up. Both here and in England the 
charge has repeatedly been made that children of tender 
years have been done to death by their parents or others, 
for the sake of the few dollars of insurance on their 



36 

lives. Parliamentary investigations in England and in- 
quiries set on foot by our own State legislatures have 
completely disproved these assertions, and have resulted 
in establishing the fact that in not one single instance 
has insurance been the motive for such neglect of chil- 
dren as led to their death. On the other hand the mass 
of testimony produced clearly showed that insured 
children were on the whole better cared for than those 
upon whom no insurance was carried. In the United 
States the question has been investigated by the legis- 
latures of New York, Massachusetts, Ohio, Tennessee, 
Colorado and other States, and only in Colorado has a 
law been passed prohibiting the insurance of children 
under ten years of age. The action taken by the legis- 
lature of that State is not believed to be the true feeling 
of the people of the State, and the Insurance Depart- 
ment has repeatedly urged the repeal of the bill. When 
it was passed those most interested in it were not given 
a chance to be heard and the whole method of its passage 
savored of "snap judgment." One of the lower courts 
declared the measure unconstitutional, but no effort 
was made to carry the matter to a higher court for 
adjudication. The argument presented before the com- 
mittee succinctly sums up the right of parents to insure 
their children as follows: — 

It may be asserted that a parent has no insurable 
interest in the life of a child. We contend that the 
industrial classes have the moral and legal right to insure 
their children, for it is well-known that these children 
contribute to the support of their families at very early 
ages, so early, in fact, that in New York, Connecticut, 
and other States laws have been passed making thirteen 
the minimum age at which children should be emiployed 



Z1 

in manufacturing establishments. Meanwhile, they are 
supported, educated, and taught a trade in that view. 

There is a just and reasonable expectation of advan- 
tage or benefit from the continuance of their lives, and 
it logically follows that a proper justification inheres in 
the parent to protect that benefit while his child is insur- 
able, and before sickness, accident, or other causes 
interpose. 

As to its legality, the highest tribunal in the land, 
the Supreme Court of the United States, has gone farther 
than is here indicated by announcing that "it is not 
necessary that the expectation of advantage or benefit 
should be always capable of pecuniary estimation, for 
a parent has an insurable interest in the life of his child, 
a child in the life of his parent, a husband in the life of 
his wife, and the wife in the life of her husband." 

In Warnock vs. Davis, U. S. S. C, it was held that 
"the natural affection in cases of this kind is considered 
as more powerful, as operating more efficaciously to 
protect the life of the insured than any other considera- 
tion." 

From the very inception of the business of industrial 
insurance in the United States the companies have been 
particularly careful in safeguarding this particular 
branch. In England it is possible to obtain insurance 

on the life of a child from the date of 
Fund Barely birth, but United States companies 
Suffiaent for '\x2cs[^ always refused to issue a policy 
Expenses until the child was one year old. The 

first infantile policy was issued for a 
premium of three cents per week, and provided an 
amount of insurance ranging from ten dollars at age one 
to sixty dollars at age twelve. Subsequently it was 
found that the workingman needed more than the sums 
already provide^ to pay funeral expenses, and a five 



38 

cent policy was issued with benefits ranging from 
fifteen to one hundred and fifteen dollars, which has since 
been increased to seventeen dollars at age one, after the 
policy has been in force one year, to one hundred and 
twenty dollars at age ten. Later on the companies per- 
mitted the payment of a ten cent premium on the lives 
of children, but under no circumstances will more than 
that amount be accepted, either in one or more companies 
where the child is under twelve years of age. The 
policies also distinctly provide that no claim will be paid 
unless insured is over one year of age at date of policy. 
With such elaborate precautions thrown around the 
insuring of children, the argument that such practice 
encourages neglect of insured children to such an extent 
that they die, falls to the ground. The experience of 
the companies has shown that the death rate among 
insured children is below that of children in the general 
population, indicating that those insured are in reality 
better cared for than the uninsured. The amount of 
insurance on a child's life being limited, not only by 
the contract, but by agreement between the companies 
that in no case shall more than ten cents a week be 
collected, there is available at death in the large majority 
of cases a sum barely sufficient to pay the funeral 
expenses and such incidental costs as pertain to the 
last illness. Perhaps no feature of the industrial 
insurance system has been so well thrashed out as this, 
and it is a source of satisfaction to know that the com- 
panies have so successfully established the legitimacy 
and propriety of the practice of insuring children. 
Several states have recognized it by legal enactments, 
specifying the amounts of insurance that may not be 



39 

exceeded on the life of a child as follows : — ^between the 
ages of one and two years $30 ; two and three years $34 ; 
three and four years $40 ; four and five years $48 ; 
five and six years $58; six and seven years $140; seven 
and eight years $168; eight and nine years $200; nine 
and ten years $240; ten and eleven years $300; eleven 
and twelve years $380; twelve and thirteen years $460. 
A few of the states have deemed it necessary to pass 
statutes providing that insurance companies generally 
should make no distinction between persons of white 

and colored origin as regards rates of 
not°Sought^^^ premium or other advantage. Such 

statutes have utterly failed to serve 
their purpose, inasmuch as the experience of the com- 
panies has conclusively proved that colored persons 
show a much higher rate of mortality than white persons 
of equal ages. Industrial companies, as a rule, do not 
make special efforts to insure colored people, and their 
agents are instructed not to solicit that class of business 
in states where the anti-discriminating statutes are in 
effect. In the Southern States, where no such statutes 
are in force, some colored business is written at rates 
somewhat higher than for white persons, but even there 
no special effort is made in this direction. As a matter 
of fact the rate of mortality is so high among the negro 
population, and especially so among colored children, 
that the business cannot be conducted profitably with- 
out reducing the amount payable at death for a five 
cent weekly premium to a comparatively small figure. 
If the companies were to seek for such business in those 
Northern States where discrimination is forbidden, they 
would work an injustice to their white policyholders, 



40 

who would be forced to make up from their contributiors 
the excessive mortality of the colored members of the 
companies. This statute is one of those ill advised 
pieces of legislation enacted in a sentimental spirit 
without regard to its feasibility. While the companies 
must accept colored risks when offered they do not 
solicit them and are not allowed to make any effort to 
get them on terms which would make the business safe. 



41 



LAPSING OF POLICIES 



A common fallacy in connection with industrial life 
insurance is that enormous profits are made out of 
lapses. The tremendous volume of new policies issued 

each year is pointed out and con- 
Question^^ trasted with the number of policies 

reported in the annual statements of 
the companies to the insurance departments as having 
been terminated by lapse, and the deduction is drawn 
that all the lapsed policies have contributed something 
in the way of premiums to the companies which the 
latter confiscate and thus make a profit. In the first 
place the term lapsed, as applied to industrial policies 
does not mean exactly the same thing' as in the case of 
ordinary policies. For actuarial purposes the company 
records consider every policy applied for as issued, 
whether a single week's premium has been paid on it or 
not. Each week the home office receives from its 
numerous superintendents' offices all over the country 
the applications which the agents have secured during 
the preceding week If these applications are satis- 
factory to the medical department the policies are issued 
and sent to the superintendents for delivery by the 
agents who procured the applications. These agents 
have, in actual practice, four weeks in which to deliver 
the policy and secure the first payment thereon. At 
the end of that period those policies which have not 
been paid for are reported to the home office and marked 



42 

as having terminated by lapse. In the case of an 
ordinary policy the agent usually has sixty days in 
which to deliver the contract, and should he not succeed 
in doing so he returns it to the home office where it is 
recorded as having been "not taken" instead of having 
lapsed. The several companies engaged in the indus- 
trial business have reiterated over and over the claim 
that so far from lapses being a source of profit to the 
company, they are an actual loss, and if not checked by 
every possible means are likely to seriously affect the 
safety of the institutions. It is pointed out that an 
industrial policy takes about two years to pay for the 
cost of putting it on the books and as most of the lapses 
occur in the first policy year the chances of big profits 
are less than nil. Ever since the business obtained a 
foothold in the United States the efforts of the managers 
have been particularly directed to the problem of keep- 
ing down the lapse rate. 

The head of one company in referring to this question 
went into it very fully as follows: 

The truth is the companies wish there were no 
lapses ; they would like to have all the business they ever 
wrote remain in force, and they have done everything 
that thought and ingenuity can devise 
The Companies ^q g^^p them. The method of compen- 
sating agents, in nearly all the com- 
panies, strikes at the very root of this matter. The 
heaviest charge, as in all life insurance, is the agent's 
first commission for procuring the business. He is then 
paid a collecting fee based upon the actual amount of 
premiums turned in. But his first and largest com- 
mission is not based (except qualifiedly as will follow) 
upon the amount of business he introduces; if it were 
there would be a manifest inclination to be willing to see 



43 

it lapse, that it might be rewritten and another com- 
mission obtained and this procedure be repeated to the 
detriment of the company. This commission is only 
paid upon increase — ^upon the growth, or increase, of 
his premiums from week to week. For illustration: if 
his total premiums on new business secured within a 
given week are one dollar and the lapsed premiums on 
business previously written are fifty cents, he is not paid 
on the dollar of business introduced, but on the difference 
or increase, of fifty cents. This plan also works, as is 
obvious, as something of a safeguard against a poor 
quality of business — a business obtained by any means 
that make against its permanency and persistency. 
The more rapid its waste, the more frequent and irksome 
the burden upon the agent. When the thoughtless or 
the ignorant, therefore, charge the companies, as some 
have recklessly done, with the encouragement of for- 
feitures, they utter a monstrous untruth. They affirm 
that gain arises from lapses, — contending that the com- 
panies turn into surplus the reserves on forfeited policies 
theretofore charged up as a liability. This presupposes 
that the reserves have been earned before being thus 
converted. Suppose, for simplicity and clearness that 
we define a reserve as a sum necessary to keep a premium 
level — the too much charged in the earlier years of a 
policy to offset the too little charged in later years. In 
one of the legislative investigations it was shown from 
the books of one of the largest companies that at the end 
of the first year industrial policies showed a loss of 290 
per cent, of their reserve — that the second year they had 
made up only twenty-five per cent, of the reserve liability 
— the third year they had made up but fifty-two per 
cent — and that it was the fourth year before the company ^ 
made its reserve liability, let alone any profit. The '■ 
records of our business show that, of the business issued 
on a given date, over seventy per cent, is lapsed during ; 
the three years next succeeding. Of these lapses more 
than one-half occur during the first three months of the 



44 

policy, and six-sevenths during the first year of the 
policy. Can anything but a dead loss be figured on 
these lapses? 

Let us look at some of the obvious reasons. First, 
there are fifty-two opportunities in the year for the 
lapsing of an industrial policy — as the premiums are 
payable weekly, as against one, two, or at the most four 
temptations a year (premiums being paid annually, 
semi-annually, or quarterly) in the ordinary companies. 
Next consider the differences in the people, pecuniarily 
and otherwise, among whom these respective forms of 
insurance are done. Further, bear in mind the nature 
of the lapse. In the ordinary company it is permanent 
— the policyholder going out being apt to stay out ; if he 
take up other insurance, he is persuaded into some 
other company; if he is dissatisfied with dividends, or 
other cause, he applies for a paid-up, or a surrender value, 
and (whether he get it or not) he withdraws and ends 
his relation as to that company. The industrial policy- 
holder on the contrary, goes out and comes back. He 
lapses and re-enters. A shutting down of the mill, a 
fire, a strike, his discharge, the failure of an employer — 
a hundred things conspire to cut off his resources. He 
exhausts his grace, and, if for the time being, he is unable 
to go on, applies for a paid-up (if he is entitled to it) and 
stops. Regaining employment he comes back, and all 
his family with him. Another disturbance, and the 
same result follows. Starting afresh, or reviving his 
former policies (all of which counted as lapses), he again 
rejoins the ranks of the insured. Any comparison of 
the lapses, therefore, in the two forms of business, is 
wholly irrelevant. 

The industrial insurer is one generally dependent 
upon daily or weekly wages. The occurrences as to 
nature and number affecting each we have barely hinted 
at. In times of business disturbances mills shut down, 
trade is suspended, employers fail. Where hundreds 
or even thousands of employers may be thus affected, 



45 

tens and hundreds of thousands of the employed, the 
country over, are deprived of work and wages. A fire 
in a large refinery threw twenty -five hundred men out 
of employment in one night. It made no difference 
in the scale of expenditure to the half-dozen men who 
owned it — none whatever. It did, however, to the 
families of the workmen. The former collected their 
fire insurance and went on and rebuilt. The latter 
waited — ^many of them — till the rebuilding was done 
and they could go to work again. 

To sum up, there is no force to the contention that 
the companies profit by lapses, but everything against 
it ; and it is only fair to expect that the nominal ratio of 
lapses in industrial insurance should appear large, for 
it results from natural causes, only partly preventable. 

The president of another company in testifying 
before a legislative committee on the subject of indus- 
trial insurance referred to the lapse question in the 
following terms: 

Of the policies issued in one year, fifty per cent, 
lapsed the first year; sixteen per cent, lapsed during the 
second year; five per cent, lapsed in the third year; 
three per cent, lapsed the fourth year, and thereafter about 

two per cent, lapsed each year. It 
pSa^yToss ^^quires no argument to prove that 
to the Company "^^^ companies do everythmg possible 

to keep these policies upon their books, 
and especially in the earlier years of the policy life. In 
the first place it is an injury to the field staff to have the 
policies lapse. The very method of compensating agents 
and superintendents is such that a lapse means to them 
a pecuniary loss and they naturally strive as best they 
can to keep the policies in force. In the second place 
the companies lose money by lapses. They pay out 
more money for the business than they receive for several 
years. It is therefore a loss when the policies go off the 



46 

books. In the third place, the lapsing of policies is 
inimical to the interests of the company, for the reason 
that bad lives remain and the good ones go out. There 
is therefore constantly going on, in event of lapsing, 
an adverse selection, and hence the companies use every 
legitimate effort to keep the business upon their books. 
The greatest loss is during the first policy year and the 
highest per cent, of lapses during that year occurs at 
the expiration of six weeks. The agent, by the rule of 
the company, is allowed four weeks in which he may 
carry the policy without presenting it for lapse after 
premiums have ceased to be paid so as to give the policy 
holder a chance to pay up if he will. Then there is 
another week taken by the company at the home office 
in which to do the clerical work of lapsing the policy 
upon its books. The agents invariably take the four 
weeks allowed them, because they want to keep the 
policy on the books and they hold it as long as the rule 
of the company permits. This accounts for five weeks 
of the policy life during which no premium is paid and 
as the largest per cent, of lapses during the first policy 
year occurs at the expiration of six weeks from the 
issue of the policy, it follows that but a single weekly 
premium has been paid thereon at time of lapse. But, 
further, if we run through the whole year and take the 
average lapse, we find by the same rule above stated, 
that the average payment upon the policies which lapse 
during the first year is but four weeks premiums. In 
other words, the average premium paid in by policy- 
holders who lapse their policy during the first year of 
issue is for four weeks only. While it is true that the 
company has received but four weeks' premiums upon 
such business, it is the fact also that it has had to carry 
the risk for eight weeks on account of the four weeks 
allowed the agent before lapsing, and should a policy- 
holder die within that period, under the practice of the 
companies the loss would have to be paid. Thus the 
companies incur a great loss not only in the manner 



47 

described by reason of these lapses, but the risk of the 
insurance which it carries during the year and upon 
which it receives but a small amount of premiums. 

That the companies do not look upon lapses as a 
source of profit, but rather as a distirct loss, is shown 
by the strenuous efforts constantly being made to prevent 
policyholders from allowing their policies to drop. 
One of the most important tests to which an industrial 
agent is subject relates to his ability to hold the business 
on his books. If he fails to show increase in a given 
period an investigation is made of his debit to see if he 
is at fault, either in laxity of making his collections or 
in procuring a poor quality of business, and if the blame 
is his, the company loses no time in dispensing with his 
services. While the industrial companies offer the 
advantages of their system to the poor and laboring 
classes they exercise a judicious discretion in avoiding 
the shiftless and more ignorant classes. They do not 
work in the slums, because they have found out that 
even five cents a week insurance has its limitations 
so far as the residents of those sections of our large 
cities are concerned, and the business secured under 
such circumstances never pays for its cost. Persistent 
paying business is the only kind these companies desire 
and the agents are constantly being reminded that 
"the business that stays is the business that pays. "J 
No policyholder is allowed to drop his insurance until 
every effort has been made to induce him to keep it 
and all possible aid is extended to relieve him should 
circumstances render it impossible for him to maintain 
regular payments. In the first place the policyholder 
is allowed four weeks of grace for the payment of the 



48 

premium and during that time he can pay as few 

premiums as may be necessary to keep him within the 

limit. 

After the poUcy has been actually lapsed the matter 

is still kept in mind and inducements held out to bring 

the former insured back into the fold. Among these 

inducements may be mentioned, first, 

Offers to Rein- ^n offer to rewrite the insurance, 
state Lapsed r ■,-, 

Policyholders where the lapse occurs after one full 

year's premiums had been paid, in full 
immediate benefit instead of making the insured wait 
another whole year before the full benefit is payable 
in event of death; second, a lapsed policy having been 
in force for five years the holder may either take a 
paid up policy or the company will credit the whole 
reserve on the policy to the payment of weekly premiums 
as far as it will go upon a new policy, in full immediate 
benefit, for an amount which his old rate of premium 
will purchase at present age, without medical examina- 
tion and with privilege of continuance at the expiration 
of this extension of his insurance; third, policies having 
been one full year in force and showing arrears amount- 
ing to thirteen weeks may be revived in full immediate 
benefit and the company will accept a policy lien, with- 
out interest, for the whole amount of arrears, if necessary, 
or for such part as policyholders are unable to pay 
at the time of applying for revival. These concessions, 
none of which were incorporated in the original indus- 
trial policies, have been the means of saving many 
thousands of policies and have convinced the public 
that the sole interest of the companies was to keep the 
business on their books in order that the policyholders 



49 

might have the full benefit of the insurance for which 
they had paid. Had there been a profit in lapses, and 
had the companies not been managed with a view to 
giving the policyholders every possible benefit which 
their experence justified, these liberal concessions would 
not in all probability have been made. 

The premium in industrial insurance, as has already 

been mentioned, is not adjusted to the amount insured, 

as is the case with ordinary insurance, but the amount 

of insurance is adjusted to the weekly 

Premium and premium, the latter having a minimum 
Reserve Com- r n ^ ny, ^ ^ ■ 

putations o^ ^ve cents, ihe amount of insur- 

ance which can be supplied at five 
cents a week at the younger ages was originally 
computed according to data contained in Farr's 
English Life Tables, No. 3, but has since been 
modified on the basis of the experience accu- 
mulated by the industrial companies. These policies, 
for valuation purposes, are considered as term poli- 
cies until age ten is attained, when they become ordinary 
life policies and are valued accordingly. In examining 
the table of benefits granted under infantile policies 
it will be noted that the benefits increase from year to 
year until the maximum amount payable is reached 
at age ten. This increase in benefits is feasible on 
account of the rapid decline in the rate of mortality 
after the first year or so of life, and explains at the 
same time the fact that reserves are not needed to 
maintain the policies in force, as at most of the years 
from one to twelve there would be negative values 
shown. On adult policies the premiums for office use, 
commonly known as net premiums, are calculated by a 



so 

standard table of mortality, with a heavy loading to 
provide for the expenses of the business, which it needs 
no further demonstration to prove are much higher 
for retail insurance, as industrial insurance is, than for 
wholesale or ordinary insurance. In calculating the 
reserves on such policies as come under the classification 
of adult, the general practice is to credit no reserve at the 
end of the first year and thereafter to take the terminal 
reserve at the end of each year, instead of the mean 
reserve, as is done with ordinary policies. Only one 
insurance department varies from this rule and calls 
upon the companies to maintain reserves on industrial 
adult policies from their inception, an allowance being 
made, however, on account of the heavy lapse rate in 
the first and second years. As the three principal 
companies operate in that State the effect is to compel 
them to report to other States an extra reserve over and 
above the actual requirements. Inasmuch as this adds 
to the strength of the companies financially, there 
can be no complaint from the policyholders on the 
ground that there is not a sufficient amount reserved 
to insure the absolute payment of every contract. 



SI 



INDUSTRIAL FIELD WORKERS 



As may well be imagined the system requires the 
minutest attention to detail and calls for the employ- 
ment of a very large number of persons, not only in the 
field but in the office. The territory 
Forces^^ covered by the several industrial com- 

panies is divided into districts, each in 
charge of a superintendent. Under the superintendents 
are the assistant superintendents, each in charge of a 
number of agents, who constitute the collecting force 
for the regular collection of premiums each week and 
who also by active canvassing procure the new business. 
The duty of the industrial agent as defined by the manual 
of instructions is: first, to devote the first part of each 
week to the collection of premiums on policies already 
issued, and second, to faithfully canvass for new business. 
In other words the agent is required to devote each 
working day of every week to the prosecution of his 
agency work, to the end that a substantial and steady 
increase may be made by him. Every Monday morning 
the agent starts out on the collection of premiums 
recorded in his debit book. From 
street to street, from house to house 
and from floor to floor he goes, meeting some member 
of the family insured, taking the dimes or nickels and 
recording the amounts in the policyholder's receipt 
book as well as in his own book. At the time a policy is 
issued the policyholder is supplied with a premium 



52 

receipt book, in which every payment made must be 
entered by the agent. Where more than one member 
of a family living in the same house is insured, the one 
receipt book answers for all, a record being kept on the 
first page of the numbers of the policies covered by the 
book. In the course of his collecting the agent takes 
pains to inquire as to any new families that may have 
moved into the house or neighborhood, as well as to 
the prospects of the families insured, with a view to 
securing new applications or increasing the amounts 
already insured. A most important part of his work 
consists in urging the necessity of keeping the policy 
premiums paid well in advance, so that should mis- 
fortune of any kind overtake the family there will be 
some weeks' payments already provided for and thus 
aid in preventing lapses. The companies set a standard 
of collections which the agents are expected to adhere 
to as closely as possible, usually ninety-eight per cent 
of the debit. The debit representing the amount of 
money the agent is charged to collect on the policies 
recorded in his collecting book, if that amounts to one 
hundred dollars a week say, he is expected to collect 
at least ninety-eight dollars. Having completed his 
collections, which in most cases should be out of the 
way by Thursday morning, the agent devotes the rest 
of the week to canvassing for new business. In the 
course of his collecting tours he has introduced the 
subject to a number of people and now devotes his 
energies to closing with them. In this work he knows 
no limitations of hours. There is a father to be seen 
who works some distance from his home and can only 
be got at on his return at night. His mind may have 



53 

been prepared by the representations of the mother, 
but he needs convincing and the agent gives up his 
time cheerfully to explain all the benefits of industrial 
insurance. When the applications are secured efforts 
are made to collect as many weeks' premiums in advance 
as possible, thereby putting the policies in immediate 
force, subject only to the approval of the medical 
department. The applications are then turned over to 
the assistant superintendent, who examines them care- 
fully to see that all the questions have been properly 
answered and arranges for the doctor to examine the 
applicant, if necessary under the rules, or at least to 
have the risk medically inspected. At first the medical 
examinations were only required in cases where the 
premiums were above the general average, but now 
every risk assumed is either medically examined or 
inspected, the latter process applying in the case of 
children more particularly. 

The assistant superintendent is charged with the 
supervision of a number of agents, usually about eight, 
and has to see that they do their work in a manner 

calculated to advance the interests of 
luperintend°nt the company. From time to time 

he inspects the debit of each agent, 
checking the policyholders' receipt books with the agent's 
collecting book, at the same time observing if the busi- 
ness being written is of the right quality. If the agent 
has been showing too high a proportion of lapses, or 
falling behind in his collections the assistant exerts, 
his energies to help him and get him in the way of be- 
coming a good producer. Should his efforts not meet 
with success in this direction, it then becomes his duty^. 



54 

after consultation with the superintendent, to take up 
the agency and transfer it to another man. An im- 
portant part of the work of the assistant superintendent 
lies in assisting an agent to close business. His experi- 
ence as an agent, for in the industrial field all must 
come up from the ranks, enables him to meet the argu- 
ments of those the agent is endeavoring to insure and 
in a majority of cases to procure their signatures. In 
short he is an instructor of the men under him as well 
as an inspector of the work being accomplished. In 
the payment of death claims the assistant sees that the 
claim papers are properly filled out, and in many cases 
pays the claim on securing the proper release. The 
returns of every agent in his assistancy each week are 
revised by him before being sent to the home office, 
so that there may be no occasion for their return as 
imperfect or erroneous. Under present conditions the 
assistant spends some time in soliciting for ordinary 
insurance, and the more perfectly he has trained his 
agents, the more time he can devote to that branch. 
The man directly in charge of a district is the super- 
intendent. By diligent and successful work as an agent 
he rose to an assistancy, where he had opportunities of 
displaying his powers as a handler of 

Superintendent ^^^' ^^^ ^°^ g^^^ ^^^^ ^^ ^^^^ position 
he was next promoted to the superinten- 

dency of a district. In this position he is the direct 

Tepresentative of the company, and is held responsible 

for the conduct of his staff, numbering in some cases as 

many as one hundred persons. The company expects 

him to make a steady increase in business, to see that his 

agents' accounts are kept in accordance with the com- 



pany's rules and to devote any spare time he may have 
to the pushing of the ordinary branch. A successful 
superintendent combines the qualities of a general with 
those of a diplomat, for he must be capable of getting 
the best results from his staff of assistants and agents 
and also be able to keep the policyholders in his district 
satisfied with the company and its contracts. 

At the home office the business of the field force is 
handled through division managers, to whom are assigned 
a number of districts in specific sections of the country. 
These managers keep close watch of the returns from 
their fields and from time to time make visits to partic- 
ular districts to encourage the superintendents and to 
stir up those who show a tendency to fall behind. The 
clerical work necessary in the issuing of policies and 
keeping the accounts of the thousands of agents, assis- 
tants and superintendents is also in their charge. 

The agents of an industrial company are compen- 
sated by a percentage on their collections and also by a 
percentage on the increase made each week. The col- 
lection commission is termed ordinary 
Compensation of salary, and the commission on increase 
the Field Force special salary. Usually fifteen per cent, 
is paid each week on the amount col- 
lected, while on increase, fifteen times the increase is 
paid. Thus an agent having a debit of say one hundred 
dollars a week, and collecting ninety-eight, would 
receive an ordinary salary for that week of $14.70. If 
he wrote one dollar in new premiums, and had to lapse 
on business previously in force, fifty cents, his debit 
would show an increase of fifty cents, entitling him to 
special salary amounting to $7.50. Besides his com- 



56 

pensation as outlined above, he is paid a commission on 
any ordinary business he may write in the same manner 
as ordinary agents. The assistant superintendent is 
employed on a salary which is added to each week by an 
allowance on the total increase made by the agents 
working under him. The superintendent is also paid a 
weekly salary and at the end of each year of service the 
salary is increased by the total increase in debit made by 
the district in the twelve months, divided by fifty -two. 
Thus if a new superintendent starts with a salary of 
forty dollars a week, and during his first year of service 
his district increases its weekly debit from say two 
thousand dollars to $2,208, the increase of $208 divided 
by fifty -two would make four dollars to be added to his 
weekly salary for the second year, bringing it up to forty- 
four dollars. Both assistants and superintendents are 
also paid a commission on ordinary business written by 
them personally as well as a slight commission on the 
business of that nature produced by their staffs. 

Industrial insurance has now established itself 
firmly in the United States and proved itself capable of 
adaptation to conditions as they arise. In the early 
days the financial and industrial con- 
Ord^nairField ditions were such as to call for an ele- 
mentary form of life insurance with 
absolute security as the first consideration. As the 
subject became understood there arose a demand for a 
policy of five hundred dollars from the higher element 
of the industrial population, and as the insurance edu- 
cation of the public proceeded the companies were 
practically forced to open ordinary branches. Although 
it is less than twenty years ago since these branches were 



57 

opened, the three industrial companies which transact 
ninety -five per cent, of the business in this country now 
have some three quarters of a milHon ordinary policies 
in force insuring about $850,000,000. It is estimated 
that at least one-half this sum represents ordinary insur- 
ance on the lives of wage earners, or persons in positions 
practically outside the field of the solicitor for the exclu- 
sively ordinary companies. 

The benefits which industrial insurance has con- 
ferred on the community, entirely apart from the 
amounts disbursed in death claims and other payments, 
cannot be measured by dollars and cents. It is best 
summed up perhaps in the following extract from a 
lecture delivered before the insurance class of Yale 
University by the president of one of the leading com- 
panies : 

If there is any one thing that "social classes owe to 
each other" it is that all shall aim and work to diminish 
the needless suffering and unnecessary burdens of those 
for whose well-being and future protection we are 
individually or socially responsible. The evidence is 
conclusive that the mass of our population is engaged 
in a heroic struggle to escape from poverty to relative 
economic and social freedom, and whatever contributes 
toward this much -to-be-desired end is certainly deserving 
of sympathetic consideration. In industrial insurance 
we have a most valuable aid in this determination for 
social betterment on a large scale, and the evidence is 
conclusive that a vast amount of direct and indirect 
good is accomplished by this elementary but effective 
form of thrift. During the almost thirty years since 
industrial insurance has been in active operation in this 
country, gradual but constant progress has been made 
toward a higher degree of social efficiency, so that we 
may hopefully look forward and anticipate a time when 



58 

this form of insurance will be indeed a social institution 
of universal utility, in every respect a far-reaching power 
for good, directly to the people and indirectly to the 
nation. The evidence warrants the conclusion that 
industrial insurance makes first for private wealth and 
second for public wealth, as well as directly and indirectly 
for the all important aim and end of a higher degree of 
security for the industrial population of this land 



59 



OFFICIAL RECORD OF INDUSTRIAL 
COMPANIES 



The insurance departments of the United States 

take notice of industrial insurance as a distinct branch 

of life insurance, dating from the year 

Figures of 1876. The companies now engaged 

the Business '. , r ^ 1 ^.t, ^ 

in it number fourteen, several others 

having gone out of existence or transferred their risks 
to other organizations during the past twenty-nine 
years. 

INDUSTRIAL INSURANCE IN THE UNITED STATES, 
1876 TO 1904 INCLUSIVE. 

The following table shows the four principal items of business 
of the companies transacting industrial insurance, year by year, 
since this class of business was commenced. The Baltimore, 
the Colonial the Columbian National, the Metropohtan, the 
Prudential the John Hancock, the Life Insurance Company 
of Virginia' and the Western & Southern also transact ordmary 
life insurance business, and the columns of premiums received 
and losses paid include those branches, while the columns of 
insurance written and in force include only their industrial 
business : 



Baltimore Life, Baltimore, Md. 





Insurance 
Written. 


Insurance in Force. 


Premiums 
Received. 


Losses 
Paid. 


Year. 


Number. 


Amount. 


1904 

1903 

1902 

1901 

1900 

1899 

1898 


$4,548,840 
4,969,152 
5,723.118 
5.774,038 
5,354,140 
4,486,212 
4,451,355 


103,965 

105,587 

100,292 

100,714 

92,310 

86,061 

76,974 


$7,977,954 
7.770,477 
7,133.760 

6,529.913 
5,642.853 
5,038,963 
4.251.905 


$592,777 
596,472 
565,871 
544,309 
523.785 
467,880 
421,496 


$108,545 
96,731 
71.345 
68,429 
54.921 
47,599 
39,879 



6o 



Colonial, Jersey City, N. J. 



1903. 



1904. 
1903. 
1902. 





Insurance 
Written. 


Insurance in Force. 


Premiums 
Received. 


Losses 


Year. 


Number. 


Amount. 


Paid. 


1904 

1903 

1902 

1901 

1900 

1899 

1898 


$8,784,984 
7,122,800 

6,454.644 
5,211,301 

4,209,047 
4,042,526 
2,719.798 


83,690 
70,076 
55,597 
43,520 

34,674 
27,697 
10,623 


$9,781,317 
8,028,103 
6,149,410 
4,668,763 
3,650,629 
2,854,075 
1,423,482 


$454,807 
364,588 
282,093 
203,454 
152,501 
85,252 
23,626 


$115,554 
86,85s 
69,871 
50,676 
39.501 
15,900 
4,221 



Columbian National, Boston. 



1904 
1903 
1902 



$9,468,216 

4,813,941 

759,640 



40,397 

18,756 

4.275 



$5,532,978 

2,630,959 

615.316 



Contentnea Life, Wilson, N. C. 



$43,980 



798 



$22,360 



$1,283 



Equitable Industrial, Washington, D. C. 



$1,690,736 

1,665,414 

. 1,334.923 



25.522 

23.304 
20,401 



$2,960,212 
2,692,699 
2.325.483 



$107,358 
95.425 
58,252 



$5 



$34,599 
24,401 
16,458 





Home, 


Wilmington, Del. 




1903 

1902 

I90I 

1900 


$284,400 
1,104,223 
1,417.440 
1,551,079 


12,948 

12,842 

12,132 

5,146 


$1,691,809 
1,448,963 

1,450,393 
920,980 


$49,043 
48,487 
27,770 
18,523 


$14,954 

15,867 

8.633 

6,063 





Immediate Benefit 


, Baltimore, Md. 




1904 


$1,233,420 


15,002 


$1,210,675 


$71,432 


$18,086 


1903 


391,268 


10,703 


705,128 


58,857 


16,245 


1902 


421,318 


7.587 


509.131 


54,996 


14,253 


1901 


441.309 


7,201 


406,849 


44,760 


14,314 


1900 


139.535 


5. 131 


228,512 


43,763 


14,004 


1899 


1,102,618 


4,481 


195,802 


43,693 


11,241 


1898 


1,488,774 


13.651 


1,006,704 


62,483 


19.991 


1897 


1,520,337 


11,843 


845.954 


38,282 


11.073 



6i 



John Hancock, 


Boston, Mass. 






Insurance 
Written. 


Insurance in Force. 


Premiums 
Received. 


Losses 
Paid. 


Year 


Number. 


Amount. 


1904 

1903 

1902 

1901 

1900 

1899 

1898 

1897 

1896 

1895 

1894 

1893 

1892 

1891 

1890 

1889 

1888 

1887 

1886 

1885 

1884 

1883 

1882 

1881 

1880 

1879 


$61,840,600 
57,444.640 
68,137,409 
57.928,751 
52,060,760 
44.358,633 
37,936,626 
35.959.176 
36,871,080 
41,905,652 
33,146,067 
34.571.979 
29,326,680 
25.374.745 
23.083,151 
18,239,650 
15.953.123 
13.334.392 
10,748,152 

7.055.933 
4.752,613 
4,085,489 
3,718,902 
2,931,860 
5,483,431 
I. 275. 918 


1,474.399 

1,395.779 

1,312,630 

1,223,500 

1,152,444 

1,069,197 

956,382 

899,418 

835,351 

771,972 

681,802 

607,150 

556,435 

476,612 

402,147 

320,264 

256,574 

203,467 

148,850 

107,872 

80,629 

63,625 

48,568 

36,012 

30,702 

9,327 


$233,069,767 

216,375,960 

200,294,696 

177,597,439 

159,893,856 

141,609,904 

124,923,200 

115.750,709 

105,640,047 

95,640,574 

82,876,338 

73.043.678 

65,428,121 

54.516,514 

45.772,709 

36,365.419 

29,943.052 

23,802,502 

17.805,910 

T2, 600, 935 

8,940,275 

6,730,902 

5,096,488 

3,787,230 

3,139,018 

951,000 


$13,622,350 

12,389,529 

10,914,984 

9,595,301 

8,252,341 

7,209,290 

6,512,804 

5,773,144 

5.217.207 

4,638,040 

3,862,056 

3,444.313 

2,914.498 

2,387.701 

2,002,644 

1,616,585 

1,317,374 

1,031,845 

815,750 

647.143 

547.058 

472,242 

415,537 

346,887 

336,198 

294,043 


$3,971,330 
3,642,681 
2,964,953 
2,819.624 
2,554.90s 
2,193.573 
1,874,01s 
1,684,027 
1,643.708 
1,428,921 
1,213,607 
1,116,124 
1,005,507 
932.488 
711,688 
596,510 

473.843 
357,002 
306,938 
221,266 
206,460 
175.438 
194.053 
161,606 
172,570 
162,141 



Life Insurance Company of Virginia, Richmond, Va. 



1904 
1903 
1902 
1901 
1900 
1899 
1898 
1897 
1896 
189s 
1894 
1893 
1892 
1891 
1890 
1889 
1888 
1887 



$11,788,596 


358,541 


11,906,867 


331,452 


12,437.338 


302,839 


10,785,037 


266,685 


9,102,616 


237,283 


8,968,321 


219,679 


12,318,555 


194,951 


9,212,261 


165,660 


10,613,052 


149,672 


9,256,579 


116,814 


8,140,705 


99,618 


6,998,569 


75,130 


6,272,217 


69,527 


4,940,820 


51,491 


3,000,115 


32,927 


3,314,876 


21,271 


2,619,276 


* 15,193 


* 1,250,000 


* 10,500 



537,710,901 
34,503,483 
30,303,815 
26,906,073 
23,239,844 
20,246,656 

18,373,119 
15,264,250 

13,778,199 
11.053.039 
9,647,707 
6,643,061 
6,230,224 
4,520,424 
3,589.720 
2,536,280 
1,076,377 

* 850,000 



$1,680,411 
1.509,463 

1,338,518 

1,151,213 
1,087,272 
937,901 
852,028 
752,215 
712,932 
591,381 

551,794 
546,151 
475,520 

395,191 
234,547 
151,571 
127,049 
99.556 



$512,105 
434,204 
392,997 
373.419 
370,429 
308,259 
252,025 

214.273 
222,987 
162,663 
160,003 

154.529 
120,496 
102,742 
88,795 
61,697 
39,291 
60,589 



* Partly estimated. 



62 





Metropolitan, ^ 


Ew York, N. Y. 






Insurance 


Insurance 


IN Force. 


Premiums 


Losses 


Year. 


Written. 


Number. 


Amount. 


Received. 


Paid. 


1904 


$305,258,155 


7,614,729 


$1,127,889,229 


$50,808,924 


$14,826,976 


1903 


297,968,863 


7.187,345 


1.059,875,827 


45,656,961 


12 907,617 


1902 


312,990,338 


6,698,291 


981,676,306 


39.653.725 


11,320,967 


1901 


296,606,312 


6,008,662 


881,491,451 


34,705,186 


10,704,747 


1900 


264,737,682 


5,327.067 


768,977,676 


31,210,356 


9,785.624 


1899 


253.396,620 


4.855.756 


688,629,175 


26,591,651 


8,575.134 


1898 


210,508,694 


4.317,274 


591,427,272 


23.372.770 


7,691,943 


1897 


232,264,188 


4,028,722 


534,343,756 


21,402,966 


6,990,866 


1896 


169,820,543 


3.643,569 


454,068,004 


19,306,196 


6,963,256 


1895 


175.905,407 


3,458,846 


416,062,194 


18,336,918 


6,580,390 


1894 


294,270,451 


3.559.165 


423,514.171 


16,827,016 


5,747,823 


1893 


150,057,703 


2,932,064 


343.917.746 


14,361,214 


5,535,120 


1892 


127,222,470 


2,715,414 


305,451,576 


12,514,078 


4.898,382 


1891 


94,927,488 


2,278,487 


254,939,881 


10,830,373 


4.408,379 


1890 


100,852,802 


2,096,595 


231,115,440 


9.390,927 


3,746,478 


1889 


92,726,883 


1,849,113 


200,829,929 


8,342,945 


3,042,818 


1888 


91,242,946 


1,632,642 


176,533,142 


6,810,110 


2,550,105 


1887 


84,059,118 


1.345,125 


147,758,287 


5.618,767 


2,098,936 


1886 


72,783,721 


1,066,875 


119,560,339 


4,438,096 


1,566,514 


1885 


57,819.912 


829,833 


91,234,252 


3,414,524 


1,279,645 


1884 


59.505.421 


670,999 


71,965,635 


2,811,816 


970,590 


1883 


52,505,697 


526,042 


56,536,325 


1,975,703 


631.639 


1882 


36,822,169 


335,789 


34,679.307 


1,246,515 


369,314 


1881 


24,469,300 


190,348 


17,894,620 


859,057 


268,811 


i88o 


20,728,700 


110,193 


9,103,870 


568,204 


200,805 


1879 


523,539 


5.143 


516,618 


432,560 


144.421 




Mutual 


OF Baltii 


kioRE, Baltimore, Mi 


). 


1904 


$2,016,918 


35.730 


$3,559,495 


$207,443 


$84,075 


1903 


1,815,548 


32,162 


3,095,453 


188,158 


74.508 


1902 


1,684,671 


28,093 


2,641,356 


165,322 


57.119 


1901 


1,322,112 


23,981 


2,206,081 


147,363 


59,097 


1900 


1,217,455 


20,855 


1,872,030 


128,201 


43.822 


1899 


300,572 


17.574 


1,526,787 


124,502 


52,243 


1898 


1,454,344 


19,015 


1,479,364 


119,286 


44.355 


1897 


1,148,486 


14,746 


1,049,638 


101,676 


43.410 


1896 


550,013 


8,155 


621,108 


93,471 


32,192 


1895 


495,226 


5,999 


541,308 


85,493 


34,423 


1894 


387.993 


4.340 


446,501 


73.225 


31.792 


1893 


602,196 


2,028 


243,010 


68.565 


25.643 


1892 


440,989 


2,856 


391,856 


62,691 


21,493 




Providei 


vTCE Life, 


Providence, R. I. 




1904 


$108,450 


2,012 


$301,600 


$5,173 


$3,225 


1903 


586,320 


5,509 


761,18s 


ir,6io 


2,163 


1902 


548,840 


4,818 


654,378 


8,107 


1,824 


1901 


514,319 


3,683 


517,168 


6,864 


2,164 


1900 


301,270 


1. 913 


310,711 


3.604 


1,215 


1899 


524,886 


663 


224,886 


1,406 


308 



63 





Prudential, Newark, N 


J- 






Insurance 


Insurance 


IN Force. 


Premiums 


Losses 


Year. 


Written. 


Number. 


Amount. 


Received. 


Paid. 


1904 


$202,524,911 


5,642,335 


$675,992,239 


$41,155,697 


$11,258,506 


1903 


190,386,294 


5,176,456 


613,935,910 


36,028,402 


9,812,458 


1902 


184,327,303 


4,692,182 


550,464,265 


31,138,718 


8,096,719 


1901 


191,712,877 


4,290,539 


498,127,133 


26,681,757 


7,411,428 


1900 


182,270,423 


3,908,622 


448,596,996 


22,559,354 


6,207,418 


1899 


165,760,248 


3,406,189 


389,039,257 


19,028,792 


5,420,758 


1898 


121,080,784 


2,924,526 


333,992,200 


16,139,452 


4,749,885 


1897 


112,371,379 


2,658,700 


303,770,952 


14,551,868 


4,342,562 


1896 


108,223,712 


2,437,251 


279,030,638 


13,329,644 


4.158,831 


1895 


124,374,407 


2,330,741 


268,414,100 


11,892,766 


3,846,754 


1894 


205,128,243 


2,256,014 


259,840,927 


10,890,302 


3.191,175 


1893 


128,208,941 


1,941,533 


218,199,566 


9,084,844 


2,893.708 


1892 


92,677,524 


1,653,465 


184,306,206 


7,525,844 


2,518,567 


1891 


72,966,176 


1,360,383 


150,758,907 


6,413,283 


2,079,669 


1890 


95,674,484 


1,228,332 


135,084,498 


5,636,876 


1,749,714 


1889 


73,576,853 


1,099,312 


117,357,415 


4,442,833 


1,327,856 


1888 


58,214,981 


850,064 


92,418,854 


3,659,495 


1,096,234 


1887 


60,202,194 


736,909 


81,694,088 


2,942,257 


853,819 


1886 


49,142,316 


548,433 


59,328,627 


2,114,296 


593,273 


188s 


28,860,882 


422,671 


40,266,445 


1,468,955 


418,622 


1884 


24,892,268 


324,794 


28,545,189 


1,127,738 


322,382 


1883 


20,426,140 


273,917 


23,053,935 


828,911 


222,083 


1882 


11,541,210 


196,007 


15,738,973 


571,595 


157,705 


1881 


9,688,362 


133,582 


10,959,948 


402,947 


III, 508 


1880 


8,555,904 


87,462 


7,347,892 


250,958 


57.256 


1879 


3,157,352 


43,715 


3,866,913 


121,560 


23.013 


1878 


1,785,696 


22,808 


2,027,888 


59,817 


11,338 


1877 


967,932 


11,226 


1,030,655 


28,517 


S.296 


1876 


727,168 


4,816 


443,072 


14,495 


1.958 



Western and Southern, Cincinnati, O. 



1904 


$14,830,110 


227,624 


$24,600,187 


$1,249,945 


$354666 


1903 


14,161,533 


209,623 


22,223,035 


1,113,699 


295,369 


1902 


12,948,340 


184,686 


19,643,480 


917,337 


221.284 


1901 


10,878,524 


155,096 


16,426,534 


722,605 


203,896 


1900 


10,070,944 


131,132 


13,618,878 


614,301 


150,642 


1899 


8,370,729 


117,545 


10,881,961 


508,900 


122,494 


1898 


7,256,666 


91,589 


8,392,902 


397,687 


96,448 


1897 


4,980,043 


71,301 


6,619,653 


320,996 


79,169 


1896 


4,290,332 


62,747 


5,724,728 


298,686 


79,060 


1895 


4,573,492 


56,960 


5,294,381 


246,807 


69,087 


1894 


6,178,914 


46,362 


4,374,675 


227,392 


52,456 


1893 


3,830,862 


41,296 


3,691,843 


183,415 


44,336 


1892 


2,522,842 


30,472 


2,707,366 


140,564 


39.539 


1891 


2,661,930 


24,638 


2,329,936 


101,397 


26,944 


1890 


2,620,328 


16,926 


2,000,073 


70,327 


19.233 


1889 


2,505,945 


11,348 


1,537,430 


43,518 


10,837 


1888 


1,698,748 


6,237 


889,073 


14,359 


1.107 



64 



Aggregates. 





A (U 
_• S'S 


Insurance 


Insurance in Force. 


Premiums 


Losses 


Year. 


2 


Written. 


Number. 


Amount. 


Received. 


Paid. 






$ 




$ 


$ 


$ 


1904. . 


14 


624,422,316 


15,637,692 


2,132,300,723 


110,006,643 


31,302,626 


1903. . 


IS 


596,510,565 


14,600,502 


1,977,185,534 


98,063,490 


27,408,191 


1902. . 


IS 


610,968,819 


13,444,753 


1,806,454,742 


85,146,410 


23,243.657 


1901 . . 


15 


S98,593.825 


12,333,459 


1,640,398,546 


74,660,060 


22,003,402 


1900. . 


18 


566,037,936 


11,215,531 


1,468,474,534 


65,962,426 


19,607,808 


1899. . 


17 


519,796,085 


10,048,808 


1,292,812,402 


56,159,889 


17,023,48s 


1898. . 


14 


422,164,810 


8,794.178 


1,109,526,870 


48,776,246 


14,971,238 


1897. . 


12 


415,338,614 


8,000,636 


995,545,736 


43,619,310 


13.526,315 


1896. . 


II 


360,852,458 


7,375,688 


886,484,869 


40,058,701 


13.420,336 


1895. . 


II 


380,832,362 


6,943,769 


819,521,573 


37,008,536 


12,398,782 


1894. • 


12 


573.279,943 


6,847,892 


802,016,133 


32,253,881 


10,635,602 


1893. . 


II 


344,361,223 


5,748,195 


661,568,502 


28,311,386 


9,955.865 


1892. . 


10 


276,893,923 


5,118,897 


582,710,309 


24.352,900 


8,847,322 


1891. . 


9 


218,138,800 


4,302,427 


481,060,716 


20,654,980 


7,725.328 


1890. . 


9 


242,250,959 


3,875.102 


428,037,245 


17.647.036 


6,423,341 


1889. . 


8 


201,787.017 


3,352,708 


364,483,382 


14,760,691 


5,086,233 


1888. . 


7 


161,260,335 


2,788,000 


302,033,066 


11,939.540 


4,162,745 


1887. . 


4 


158,845,704 


2,296,001 


254,104,877 


9,692,425 


3,370,346 


1886. . 


3 


132,674,189 


1,764,158 


196,694,876 


7,368,142 


2,466,725 


1885. . 


3 


93.736,727 


1,360,376 


144,101,632 


5,530,622 


1,919.533 


1884. . 


3 


89,150,302 


1,076,422 


108,451,099 


4,486,612 


1,499.432 


1883. . 


3 


77,017,326 


863,584 


86,321,162 


3,276,856 


1,029,160 


1882.. 


3 


52,082,281 


580,364 


55,514,768 


2,233,647 


721,072 


1881.. 


3 


37,089,522 


359,942 


32,641,798 


1,608,891 


541,92s 


1880. . 


3 


34,768,035 


228,357 


19,590,780 


1. 155.360 


430,631 


1879. . 


3 


4,956,809 


58,185 


5,334,531 


548.163 


329,575 


1878. . 


I 


1,785,696 


22,808 


2,027,888 


59.817 


11.338 


1877. . 


I 


967,932 


11,226 


1,030,655 


28,517 


5. 296 


1876. . 


I 


727,168 


4,816 


443.072 


14.495 


1.958 


Totals. 




7,797,291,727 






845.385,672 


260,069,267 











6s 



AMOUNT INSURED AND PREMIUMS 



In the following tables the sum insured for each five 
cents of weekly premium is shown on both adult and 
infantile policies. Also the weekly premiums charged 
on policies of $500 each running for the whole term of 
life. 

AMOUNT INSURED FOR FIVE CENTS PER WEEK — WHOLE LIFE 





s 


H 

M 


5 


* 

■-13 
C 

(D 

•d 

1 


<u 




* 

u 
0^ 


t3 

If 




* 

u 

0) 

u 


leg 


10 

11 

12 

13 

14 

IS 

16 

17 

18 

19 

20. 

21 

22 


$ 

120 
118 
116 
112 

io8 
103 
100 

94 
92 

89 
..87 

84 
. ,82 


$ 
120 

115 

no 

106 

103 

100 

98 

95 

92 

90 

88 

85 

83 

81 

79 


25... 
26. .. 
27. .. 
28. .. 
29. .. 
30. .. 
31. .. 
32. .. 
33. •• 

34- .. 
35. .. 
36... 
37. .. 
38... 
39- .. 


$ 

76 

74 

72 

71 

69 

67 

66 

64 
62 
60 
59 
57 
55 
54 
52 


$ 

77 
75 
72 
71 
69 
67 
65 
63 
61 
59 
58 
56 
54 
53 
SI 


40. .. 

41... 
42... 
43... 

44. .. 

45. .. 
46... 
47... 
48... 

49. .. 

50. .. 

51. .. 

52. .. 

53. .. 
54... 


$ 

50 
49 
47 
45 
44 
42 
41 
39 
38 
37 
35 
34 
32 
31 
30 


$ 

49 
48 
46 

44 
42 

41 
40 

39 
37 
35 
34 
33 
32 
31 
30 


55 

56.... 

57 

58.... 

59 

60 

61 

62 

63.... 
64.... 
65... . 

66 

67.... 

68 

69.... 
70... 


$ 
28 
27 
26 
25 
23 
22 
21 
20 

19 

18 

17 
16 
16 
15 
14 
13 


$ 
28 
26 

25 

24 

22 
21 
20 
19 
18 

17 
16 
IS 
14 
13 
12 


23 

24 


80 
78 



♦Also used by Colonial, John Hancock and Life Insurance Company of Virginia. 



66 



INFANTILE TABLE OP BENEFITS 

Used by the John Hancock Life Insurance Company of Virginia and Prudential.* 
Amount of insurance if the Hfe insurance is rated under age lo, and for each 5 
cents of weekly premiums. 





Amount Payable Provided Death Occur After the Policy Has 
Been in Force for the Following Periods. 


£ 


a 

^^ 

to 


03 




5^' 





12 






1 




2 


12 

.a 

C/2 




tins 


2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 


$ 

8 

9 

10 
11 
12 

14 
16 
20 


$ 

10 
II 

13 
14 
16 

19 

22 
28 


$ 

12 

14 
16 
18 
22 
26 

35 

50 


$ 

15 
17 

20 

24 
29 

35 
50 
75 


$ 

17 

20 

24 
29 

39 

55 

80 

120 


$ 
20 

24 
29 

43 
60 

85 
120 


24 
29 

47 

65 

90 

120 


$ 
29 

51 
70 

95 
120 


$ 

55 

75 

100 

120 


$ 

80 
100 
120 


$ 
100 
120 


$ 
120 



When the amount of insurance, according to the terms of this table, reaches 
$120 (for each 5 cents of weekly premium), it will continue at that amount 
during the lifetime of the person insured, subject to the terms and conditions 
of the policy. 

* Also for Colonial Life, except that columns "under three months," and 
"under nine months," are omitted. 



JOHN HANCOCK 

WEEKLY PREMIUMS FOR SPECIAL ADULT POLICIES FOR $500 






ei 



i6 
17 
18 
19 
20 
21 
22 
23 
24 



Oh 



.25 

.25 

.25 

.25 
.25 
.26 
.26 

.27 
.28 



" 5 



25 
26 
27 
28 
29 
30 
31 
32 
33 



>.a 
3.2 



.29 
.29 
.30 
.31 

• 32 
.33 
.34 

• 35 
.36 






>>a 



cu 



•37 
.38 

.40 
.41 
.43 
.44 

.46 
.48 

.49 






43 
44 
45 
46 
47 
48 
49 
50 
51 



3.2 



.51 

• 53 
.56 

• 58 
.61 
.63 
.66 
,69 
.72 






52. 

53 • 

54^ 
55^ 
56. 
57^ 
58. 
59^ 
60. 



3.2 

►> 4) 



.76 

• 79 
.83 

• 87 
.91 
.96 

1 .00 
i^os 
I . II 



67 



LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY OF VIRGINIA 

WEEKLY PREMIUMS FOR EVEN $500 WHOLE LIFE POLICIES 



Age. 


Pre- 
mium 


Age. 


Pre- 
mium 


Age. 


Pre- 
mium 


Age. 


Pre- 
mium 


Age. 


Pre- 
mium 


18 

19 

20 

21 

22 

23 

24 

25 

26 


.27 
.28 
.29 
.30 
.31 
.31 
• 32 
.33 
.34 


27 

28 

29 

30 

31 

32 

33 

34 

35 


• 35 
.35 
.36 
.37 
.38 
.39 
.40 
.41 
.43 


36... 
37. .. 
38... 

39. .. 

40. .. 

41. .. 

42. .. 

43- •• 

44- •• 


• .44 

• -45 
. .47 
. .48 

• .50 

• .52 

• .53 
■ .55 

• .57 


45. .. 
46... 
47. .. 
48... 
49- •• 
50. .. 

51 

52. .. 
53- •• 


• 59 
.62 
.64 
.67 
.70 

• 73 
.76 
.79 
.82 


54 

55 

S6.... 

57 

58.... 

59 

60 


.86 

.90 

.95 

.99 

1.04 

1 . 10 

I.I5 



PRUDENTIAL INSURANCE COMPANY 

WEEKLY PREMIUMS FOR EVEN $500 WHOLE LIFE POLICIES* 



Age. 


Pre- 
mium 


Age. 


Pre- 
mium 


Age. 


Pre- 
mium 


Age. 


Pre- 
mium 


Age. 


Pre- 
mium 


18 

19 

20 

21 

22 

23 

24 


$ 

.27 
.28 
.29 
.30 
.30 

• 31 

• 32 


25 

26 

27 

28 

29 

30 

31 




$ 

33 

34 

35 

35 

36 

37 

38 


32. .. 
33- •• 

34. • ■ 

35. .. 
36... 
37. •• 
38... 


$ 

■ .39 

• .40 

• -42 

■ -42 

- .44 
. .45 

. .46 


39. .. 

40. .. 

41. .. 

42. .. 

43- •• 

44- •• 
45. •• 


$ 
. .48 
. .50 
. .51 
. .53 
. .56 
. .57 
. .60 


46.... 
47 

48.... 
49 ... • 
50 


$ 

.61 

.64 

.66 

.68 

.71 



* Also for Colonial. 

In the case of the company given hereunder all policies 
mature as endowments if the insured survives the age 
of seventy -nine years, while in the event of death the 
amount payable is as indicated by the note at the head 
of the table. The amounts given are for a weekly 
premium of ten cents, but policies are issued at higher 
premiums, in multiples of five up to sixty cents, their 
issue being restricted by ages as follows: — 15 cents 



68 



beginning at age of twelve; 20 cents at age of thirteen ; 
25 cents at age of fifteen; 30 cents at age of seventeen; 
35 cents at age of eighteen; 40 cents at age of nineteen; 
45 cents at age of twenty; 50 and 55 cents at age of 
twenty-one; 60 cents at age of twenty -two. The sums 
insured for the higher premium are proportionate to 
those given in the table. Thus a fifteen cent premium 
will provide one and one-half times the amount 
shown for ten cents, a twenty cent premium twice the 
amount, etc. 



METROPOLITAN LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY 

INCREASING LIFE AND ENDOWMENT TABLE OF BENEFITS 

Under this table the amount of insurance for the first three years appears in 
the column headed "minimum amount." Each year thereafter the insurance 
is increased by an amount equal to ten times the weekly premium. The "max- 
imum amount" is paid to the insured in case he survives the age of 79 years. 





10 Cents. 




10 Cents. 




10 Cents. 




10 Cents. 


>< 

ft 


tM 








§2 






C5 S 






IRTHDA 

Min. 
mount. 


< 




Si 
< 


4J 

SB 




< 


a 


< 


pq < 


<m 


< 


<m 


< 


< 


<m 


< 




$ 




$ 


$ 




$ 


$ 




$ 


$ 


10 


... 230 


297 


26. . 


132 


183 


41. . 


86 


122 


56.. 


48 


69 


II 


220 


286 


27. . 


130 


180 


42. . 


84 


119 


57. . 


44 


64 


12 


. . . 210 


275 


28. . 


126 


175 


43- . 


80 


114 


58.. 


42 


61 


13 


. . . 200 


264 


29. . 


122 


170 


44. . 


78 


III 


59- • 


40 


58 


14 


.. . 192 


255 


30. . 


120 


167 


45- . 


74 


106 


60. . 


38 


55 


15 


... 184 


246 


31- • 


116 


162 


46.. 


72 


103 


61. . 


36 


52 


16 


... 176 


237 


32. . 


114 


159 


47. . 


70 


100 


62. . 


34 


49 


17 


... 170 


230 


33- . 


no 


154 


48.. 


66 


95 


63.. 


32 


46 


18 


... 164 


223 


34- . 


108 


151 


49- . 


64 


92 


64.. 


30 


43 


19 


. . . 160 


218 


35. . 


104 


146 


50. . 


62 


89 


65.. 


28 


40 


20 


.. . 154 


211 


36.. 


102 


143 


51. . 


58 


84 


66. . 


26 


37 


21 


... 150 


206 


37- . 


98 


138 


52. . 


56 


81 


67.. 


26 


36 


22 


... 146 


201 


38.. 


96 


13s 


53. . 


54 


78 


68. . 


24 


33 


23 


... 142 


196 


39. . 


92 


130 


54. . 


52 


75 


69.. 


22 


30 


24 


... 138 


191 


40. . 


90 


127 


55. . 


SO 


72 


70. . 


20 


27 


25 


... 136 


188 





















One-fourth only of the minimum amount of insurance payable if death occur 
within six calendar months from date of policy; one-half only if death occur after 
six calendar months and within one year; and the full amount only if death occur 
after one year. 



69 

INFANTILE ENDOWMENT TABLE— BASED ON A WEEKLY PREMIUM 

OF TEN CENTS 



Amount payable if death occur during the following periods: 







CO 




^H U 


u 










13 


i 


u 




0)43 


(U+3 




0) rt 




<u 


(U 


V 


V 


V 


V 


?H 


« o 


'd ti 
a 


;5§ 




<0 


>< 


>< 


!>^ 


>* 


>^ 


>H 


Sa 


PS 


t)S 


'0 


TJ 








-B 


tS 


^ 


<m 


CO 


vO 


Ov 




N 




Tj- 


10 


« 


t^ 


00 


o> 




$ 


$ 


$ 


$ 


$ 


$ 


$ 


$ 


$ 


$ 


$ 


$ 


2.. . , 


i6 


20 


24 


30 


34 


40 


48 


58 


no 


160 


200 


240 


3-. 




i8 


22 


28 


34 


40 


48 


58 


102 


ISO 


200 


240 




4-. 




20 


20 


32 


40 


48 


58 


94 


140 


200 


240 






5.. 




22 


28 


36 


48 


58 


86 


130 


190 


240 








6.. 




24 


32 


44 


58 


78 


120 


180 


240 










7.. 




28 


38 


52 


70 


no 


170 


240 












8.. 




32 


44 


70 


100 


160 


240 


. . . 


. . . 


. . . 








9-. 




40 


56 


100 


150 


240 




• ■ • 




• • • 









On each anniversary of the policy, after the insured reaches twelve years of 
age, there will be added to the maximum amount named in the above table, one 
dollar. 

The endowment periods and the amounts payable at the end of such periods 
are as follows: 

Policies issued at age 2 mature in 47 years for $276 

278 

280 

283 

286 

290 

297 

304 



"3 


48 


' 4 ' 


49 


S 


51 


" 6 ' 


53 


" 7 ' 


56 


' 8 ' 


62 


" " " 9 ' 


68 



70 



INDUSTRIAL POLICY FORMS 



The following are samples of the industrial policies 
issued. While but three forms are given they cover 
the contracts in general use. 



JOHN HANCOCK MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY 

Weekly Premium Life Policy. — First Dividend Period, 

5 Years 

The John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Company, of 
Boston, Mass., in consideration of the statements and agreements 
in the application herefor, which are hereby referred to, and as 
warranties made a part of this contract, and of the premium 
of ten cents to be paid at or before noon on Wednesday of each 
week during the lifetime of Richard T. Roe, the insured here- 
under, agrees to pay the amount named in the schedule below, 
subject to the following conditions and provisions and those 
recited on the back hereof, which are made a part of this contract. 

In the event of the decease of the insured while this policy is in force, pay- 
ment of the amount due hereunder will be made within twenty-four hours after 
satisfactory proof of death, to the beneficiary, if living, last nominated, whether 
in the proposal herefor or in any written amendment thereof filed with and 
approved by the company; but the company may make payment to the execu- 
tor or administrator of said insured, or to any relative by blood or connection 
by marriage, or to any other person in the judgment of said company equitably 
entitled to the same by reason of having incurred expense in any way on behalf 
of the insured for burial, or for any other purpose; and the receipt of any such 
person shall be conclusive evidence that payment has been properly made, and 
shall discharge the company from liability under this policy. 

Schedule Above Referred To 

This policy is in immediate benefit from its date as stated inlthis schedule. 

Full amount of this policy, $n8. 

This policy shall become void on failure to pay any of said premiums when 
due, but should the death occur within four weeks after such failure, the amount 
due hereunder will be paid. This grace in payment of claim is not to be con- 
sidered a waiver of the payment of the premiums on Wednesday of each week 
in advance. 

This policy will be entitled to cash surrender values as provided by the laws 
of Massachusetts. 

Executed and delivered at Boston, on March i, 190S. 



71 

Conditions and Provisions Referred to on the Other Side of This 

Policy 

No person except the president or secretary is authorized to make, alteror 
discharge contracts or waive forfeitures; no superintendent, assistant superin- 
tendent, collector or agent, is authorized to receive any premium more than four 
weeks in arrears, and no payment of premium shall be valid unless entered m the 
premium receipt book at the time of payment, by the agent authorized to 
receive the same. Should the agent fail to call, the premiums must be imme- 
diately brought or sent to the district office or to the home office oi the company 
in Boston, as failure of the agent to collect premiums will not relieve the poUcy- 
holder from the duty of duly making payment. 

If any statement or answer in the application for this policy, which applica- 
tion is hereby referred to and made a part hereof, is in any respect untrue; or 
if any assignment hereof is made; then this policy ^shall be void. 

This policy shall be void unless all policies previously issued by this company 
on the life of the insured, and in force at time of death are duly endorsed by the 
president or secretary, with permission to hold this policy in addition to those 
of prior issue; and the company shall not be presumed or held to know of the 
existence of any previous application, or the issue of any prior policy, and the. 
issue of this policy shall not be deemed a waiver of this condition.^ 

The company shall not be liable for any loss under this policy unless the 
said insured shall be alive and in good and sound health at noon of the date 
hereof. 

This policy and the premium receipt book must be dehvered to the company 
when claim is made. 

No suit shall be brought against the company vmder this pohcy unless such 
suit is commenced within two years from the time when the right of action 

3iCCrU.GS 

If this policy shall be held in force for three full years, and endorsement as 
above recited shall have been made on all prior policies, it shall then be incon- 
testable, except for non-payment of premium or misstatement _ of age. In 
case of misstatement of age, however, no greater sum will be paid hereunder 
than the amount which the premiums paid would have pvirchased for the true 
age at the rate in use at the date of this policy. 

If all the weekly premiums shall have been paid, there will be declared a 
dividend on this policy at the end of the fifth year from its date, and thereafter 
such dividend as may be annually apportioned by the company. 

The assured is hereby notified that, by virtue of this policy, he is a member 
of the John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Company, and that the annual 
meetings of said company are hoi den at its home office, on the second Monday 
of February, in each year, at twelve o'clock noon. 

Warranties in Application 

I declare and warrant that the representations and answers made herein are 
complete, strictly correct and true; that the several questions were duly asked, 
and that the answers given by me are truly recorded as above; that they shall 
form the basis and become part of the contract of insurance; that I made no 
other or different answers or repres^-i'stations; that any false or untrue answers 
shall render the policy null and void; and that said policy shall not be binding 
upon the company unless at noon upon its date I shall be alive and in good 
and sound health' hereby accepting, for any person who shall have interest 
in said policy, the company's determination and apportionment of dividends 
and method of distribution thereof. The right is reserved to the insured to 
change the beneficiary from time to time, by written notice to and subject to 
the approval of the company, but payment upon presentation of the policy and 
the premium receipt book shall be in full satisfaction of claim. 



METROPOLITAN LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY 

Industrial Policy — Increasing Life and Endowment 
Weekly Premium, Ten Cents. Age 35 
Schedule Referred to Below 



Number of Policy. 



Name of Insured. 
John Doe. 



Age^Next Birthday. 
3 5 Years. 



Weekly Premium. 
I o cents. 



Amount of insurance payable in the event of death after one 
year, $104. 

One-fourth only of this sum payable if death occur within six 
calendar months from date; one-half only if death occur after six 
calendar months and within one year ; and the full amount only 
if death occur after one year. After three years the above 
amount will be increased as provided below. 

Name of beneficiary and relationship to the insured, Jane 
Doe, wife. 

In consideration of the statements in the printed and written 
application for this policy, a copy of which is hereto annexed, all 
of which are hereby made warranties and part of this contract, 
and of the payment of the premium mentioned in the schedule 
above, on or before each Monday, The Metropolitan Life Insur- 
ance Company doth hereby agree, subject to the conditions 
herein, to pay as an endowment, to the insured named above, on 
the anniversary of this policy, next after he or she shall have 
passed the age of seventy-nine years, upon surrender of this 
policy and all receipt books, one hundred and forty-six dollars; 
which sum includes the guaranteed dividends provided for below, 
and doth further agree, subject to the conditions aforesaid, if the 
insured shall die prior to the date of the maturity of the endow- 
ment, to pay upon receipt of proofs of the death of the insured 
made in the manner, to the extent and upon the blanks required 
herein, and upon surrender of this policy and all receipt books, 
the amount stipulated in said schedule. Provided, however, 
that no obligation is assumed by the company prior to the date 
hereof, nor unless on said date the insured is alive and in sound 
health. In case of such prior death of the insured the company 
may pay the amount due under this policy to either the benefi- 
ciary named above or to the executor or administrator, husband 
or wife, or any relative by blood of the insured, and the produc- 
tion of a receipt signed by either of them shall be conclusive 
evidence that all claims under this policy have been satisfied. 

After this policy shall have been in force for three years, there will be 
added on each anniversary of its date, while it shall be kept in force, to the 



n 

amount of insurance named in the scliedule ab9ve, as a guaranteed dividend, 
a sum equal to ten weeks' premiums hereon, which additional sum will be pay- 
able at the same time and in the same manner as the original amount of the 
policy; namely, at death or at the end of the endowment term. 

If this policy is or shall become void, all premiums paid shall be forfeited 
to the Company. 

If the age of the insured is not correctly stated herein, no greater amount 
will be paid than the premium hereon would have purchased at the true age. 

No suit shall be brought against the company after one year from the 
date of the death of the insured. If any suit be commenced after one year.the 
lapse of time shall be conclusive evidence against any claim, the provisions 
of any and all statutes of limitation to the contrary, notwithstanding. 

If this policy be assigned or otherwise parted with, or if any erasure or 
alteration be made herein, except by endorsement signed by the secretary; 
or if any premium shall not be paid when due, this policy shall be void. And 
it is agreed that the foregoing provision which voids the policy in case any 
premium shall be overdue, shall not be considered in any respect waived by 
any act of grace by the company in acceptance of overdue premiums upon 
this or any other policy. This policy is void if any of the statements or war- 
ranties in the application for this policy be not true; or if any policy on the life 
of the insured has been issued by this company and is in force at the date 
hereof, unless this policy contains an endorsement signed by the secretary 
that such prior policy may be in force. The company shall not be presumed 
or held to know of the existence of any previous policy, and in such case the 
issue of this policy shall not be deemed a waiver of this condition. 

Agents (which term includes superintendents and assistant superintendents) 
are not authorized and have no power to make, alter or discharge contracts, 
waive forfeitures, or receive premiums on policies in arrears more than four 
weeks, or to receipt for the same in the receipt book, and all such arrears given 
to an agent shall be at the risk of those who pay them and shall not be credited 
upon the policy, whether entered in the receipt book or not. 

Proofs of death under this policy shall be made upon blanks to be furnished 
by the company and shall contain answers to each question propounded to 
the claimant, physicians, and other persons, and shall contain the record, 
evidence and verdict of the Coroner's inquest, if any be held. _ All the contents 
of such proofs of death shall be evidence of the facts therein stated in behalf 
of, but not against the company. 

In witness whereof, the said Metropolitan Life Insurance Company has, by 
its president and secretary, signed and delivered^ this policy. 

Please read your policy and premium receipt book. Wherever in this 
policy the words "the instired" are used, reference is thereby made to the 
person upon whose life the policy is issued. 

Note. — Please read the rules, regulations, etc., in your premium receipt 
book. The neglect of a collector to call will not be deemed an excuse for 
non-payment. If the collector does not call, bring or send your premiums 
to the home office in New York, or to the company's branch office, the address 
of which appears on the cover of your premium, receipt book. You will not 
pay the agent, nor any other person connected with the company, for prepara- 
tion of claim papers in case of death. If you change your residence, imme- 
diately notify the branch office. Address all communications to the Metro- 
politan Life Insurance Company, New York City, and invariably give number 
of policy and name of agent. 

Privileges and Concessions to Policyholders 

Option to Surrender^ Within Two Weeks. — If the terms of this policy 
are not satisfactory or if its conditions are not accepted and agreed to, the 
policy may be surrendered for cancellation at the office of the Superintendent 
of the district (his address appears on the premium receipt book covering 
this policy), within two weeks from the date hereof; and if so surrendered 
•withm said period, the premiums paid hereon will be refunded. 

Incontestability. — ^This policy shall be incontestable after two years, 
except for fraud or misstatement of age. 

Grace Period. — Should the death of the insured occur while any premium 



74 

is in arrears not exceeding four weeks, the company will nevertheless pay 
the policy, subject to its conditions. 

Revival.— Should this policy become void in consequence of non-payment 
of premium, it may be revived, if not more than fifty-two premiums are due, 
upon payment of all arrears and the presentation of evidence satisfactory to 
the company of the sound health of the insured. 

Change of Beneficiary.— Subject to_ the approval of the company, the 
insured may at any time during the continuance of this policy, provided the 
policy is not then assigned, change the beneficiary or beneficiaries, by written 
notice to the company at its home office, accompanied by this policy, such 
change to take effect on the endorsement of the same on the policy by the com- 
pany. After endorsement the policy will be returned. 

Paid-up Policy. — Upon surrender of this policy and all receipt books , 
after said policy shall have been in force five years and the full premiums 
for said period shall have been paid, and within six months after anypremium 
is due and unpaid, the company will issue, upon written application made 
upon blanks furnished by the company, a paid-up policy, upon which no 
further premiurns shall be required, for such proportion of the_ amount of this 
policy at the time application for paid-up policy is made (in even dollars) 
as the number of completed quarter-years for which weekly premiums have 
been paid bears to the total number of quarter-years covered by the endow- 
ment term. 

Warranties in Application 

I agree that this application has been made, prepared and written by 
myself or my own proper agent, and that inasmuch as only the officers at 
the home office of the company in the city of New York have authority to 
determine whether or not a policy shall issue upon any application, and as 
they act on the written statements, answers, warranties and agreements herein 
made, no statements, promises, or information made or given by or to the 
person soliciting or taking this application for a policy, or by or to any person, 
shall be binding on the company or in any manner affect its rights, unless 
such statements, promises or information be reduced to writing and presented 
to the officers of the company at the home office. 

And I further declare, warrant and agree that the representations and 
answers made above are strictly correct and wholly true, that they shall form 
the basis and become part of the contract of insurance, if one be issued, and 
that any untrue answers will render the policy null and void, and that said 
contract shall not be binding upon the company unless upon its date and 
delivery the insured be aUveand in sound health. 

I hereby waive the provisions of Section 88 of Chapter 690 of the Laws 
of New York passed May 18, 1892, known as the Insurance Law ,_ and I expressly 
agree that the provisions of the policy for the issuance of paid-up insurance 
are accepted in substitution for and in waiver of any law of any State relating 
to the lapse or forfeiture of policies of life insurance. I also waive the pro- 
visions of Section 834 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the State of New York, 
and of similar provisions in the laws of other States; and I expressly agree 
and stipulate that in any suit on the policy herein applied for, any physician 
who has attended or may hereafter attend me may disclose any information 
acquired by him in any wise affecting the declarations and warranties_ herein 
made. I further agree that in any suit evidence of all acts, declarations or 
admissions of the insured, done or made subsequent to the date of the policy^ 
shall be competent and admitted as proof. 



75 
THE PRUDENTIAL INSURANCE COMPANY 

Industrial Policy. Whole Life. Age 35. 

The Prudential Insurance Company of America hereby 
insures the life of the person herein designated as the insured, 
and agrees to pay the benefit stipulated in the following schedule, 
subject to the conditions, privileges and provisions contained on 
the second and third pages hereof, which are hereby made a part 
of this contract. 

Schedule 



Name of Insured 
Richard Roberts. 



Age next 

Birthday, 35 

Years. 



Benefit if Insured 

is not less than 

10 years of age 

next Birthday, 

$118. 



Weekly Premium 
10 cents. 



If the insured shall die within six calendar months from the date hereof, the 
company will pay only one-fourth of this sum. If the insured shall die after six 
months and within one year from the date hereof the company will pay only 
one-half of this sum. Ajfter one year from its date the policy will be in force 
for the ftdl amount, 



Table of Benefits if Insured is Less Than Ten Years of Age Next Birth- 
day, FOR A Weekly Premium of Ten Cents 



Benefit Payable if Policy Has Been in 
Force for 



Less than three months 

More than 3 months but less than 6 months . 
More than 6 months but less than 9 months . 

More than 9 months but less than i year 

One Year 

Two Years 

Three " 

Four " 

Five " 

Six " 

Seven " 

Eight " 



Age Next Birthday at 
Date of Policy. 



16 
20 
24 
30 

34 

40 

48 

58 

no 

160 

200 

240 



18 
22 
28 

34 

40 

48 

S8 

102 

ISO 

200 

240 



20 

26 

32 

40 

48 

58 

94 

140 

200 

240 



36 
48 
58 
86 

130 
190 
240 



24 

32 

44 

58 

78 

120 

180 

240 



28 

38 

52 

70 

no 

170 

240 



32 

44 

70 

100 

160 

240 



40 

S6 

100 

ISO 

240 



One-half the above amounts will be ijaid for a weekly premium of 5 cents. 
Special Notice. — No claim will be paid unless insured is over one year of age 
at date of policy. 



76 

Conditions 

This insurance is granted in consideration of the weekly premium herein- 
before stated, which shall be paid to the company or to its authorized represen- 
tative, on or before every Monday during the continuance of this contract. 

The amount of benefit provided in the schedtde on the first page hereof, 
and any additions thereto, shall be paid by the company at its home office in 
the city of Newark, New Jersey, unto the executors, administrators or assigns 
of the insured, unless settlement shall be made as provided in article second 
under the head of "provisions," below, immediately upon acceptance of satis- 
factory proof of the death of the insured during the continuance of this policy. 

Privileges 

If this policy is continued in force, it will become entitled to an additional 
benefit, cash dividends and a cash surrender value, as follows: 

After Five Years — Additional Benefit. — If the insured shall die after 
five years from the date hereof, the company will pay, in addition to the benefit 
herein jjrovided an amount to be determined from the tables of additional 
benefits issued by the company for the year in which death occurs. 

After Fifteen Years — Cash Dividends. — At the end of fifteen years from 
the date hereof, and at the end of each fifth year thereafter, this policy, if in 
force, will be credited with a dividend from the surplus apportioned by the 
company to policies of the same class, payable in cash to the insured, unless 
payment shall be made as provided in article second under the head of "pro- 
visions," below. 

After Twenty Years — Cash Surrender Value. — At the end of twenty 
years from the date hereof or at the end of any fifth year thereafter, the com- 
pany will pay to the insured as a cash surrender value for this policy the amount 
fixed by the following table, provided this policy is legally surrendered to the 
company within three months after the end of said twenty years or of any fifth 
year thereafter. 

Cash Surrender Value 

At End of Twenty Years or of Any Fifth Year Thereafter if Policy is Continued 

in Force 

The amounts in the following table are based on a weekly premium of ten 
cents. If the weekly premium on this policy is other than ten cents, the 
amounts in this table will be changed proportionately. For example, if this 
policy is subject to a premium of five cents per week, the cash surrender value 
will be one-half the amount in this table. If the premium is twenty cents per 
week, the cash surrender value will be double the amount in this table, and so on. 



n 





W 




rt 

W 
to 


to 


Wo 


2: . 
SO 


M 


•Si 

W«^ 


W 

to 


53 

to 


W 




$ 


$ 


$ 


$ 


$ 




$ 


$ 


$ 


$ 


$ 


2 


17.00 


26.00 


36.00 


49.00 


63.00 


37 


39.00 


50.00 


60.00 


70.00 


79.00 


3 


19.00 


28.00 


39.00 


51.00 


66.00 


38 


39.00 


50.00 


60.00 


70.00 


79.00 


4 


20.00 


30.00 


41.00 


54.00 


69.00 


39 


39.00 


49.00 


60.00 


69.00 


78.00 


S 


22.00. 


32.00 


44.00 


57.00 


72.00 


40 


38.00 


49.00 


59.00 


68.00 


76.00 


6 


24.00 


34.00 


46.00 


60.00 


76.00 


41 


38.00 


49.00 


59.00 


67.00 


75.00 


7 


26.00 


36.00 


49.00 


63.00 


79-00 


42 


38.00 


48.00 


57. 00 


66.00 


73.00 


8 


28.00 


39.00 


51.00 


66.00 


82.00 


43 


38.00 


47.00 


56.00 


64.00 


71.00 


9 


30.00 


41.00 


54.00 


69.00 


86.00 


44 


38.00 


47.00 


56.00 


64.00 


71.00 


lO 


32.00 


44.00 


57.00 


72.00 


89.00 


45 


37.00 


46.00 


54. 00 


62.00 


69.00 


II 


33.00 


44.00 


58.00 


72.00 


91.00 


46 


37.00 


46.00 


54.00 


61.00 


68.00 


13 


33.00 


45.00 


58.00 


72.00 


92.00 


47 


36.00 


45.00 


52.00 


59.00 


66.00 


13 


33-00 


45.00 


58.00 


72.00 


92.00 


48 


36.00 


44.00 


52.00 


59.00 


65.00 


14 


33.00 


45.00 


58.00 


72.00 


91.00 


49 


36.00 


44.00 


51.00 


58.00 


64.00 


IS 


33.00 


45. 00 


58.00 


72.00 


90.00 


50 


35.00 


42.00 


49.00 


56.00 


61.00 


i6 


33.00 


45.00 


58.00 


72.00 


90.00 


SI 


35.00 


42.00 


49.00 


55. 00 


60.00 


17 


33.00 


45.00 


58.00 


72.00 


87.00 


52 


33.00 


40.00 


47.00 


53.00 


58.00 


i8 


33.00 


45.00 


58.00 


72.00 


87.00 


S3 


33.00 


40.00 


46.00 


52.00 


56.00 


19 


33.00 


45.00 


58.00 


72.00 


87.00 


54 


32.00 


39.00 


45. 00 


51.00 


55.00 


30 


33.00 


45.00 


58.00 


72.00 


87.00 


55 


31.00 


37.00 


43.00 


48.00 


52.00 


31 


33.00 


45.00 


58.00 


72.00 


87.00 


S6 


30.00 


37.00 


42.00 


47.00 





23 


34.00 


46.00 


59.00 


73.00 


87.00 


57 


30.00 


36.00 


41.00 


46.00 




23 


34.00 


46.00 


59.00 


73.00 


87.00 


S8 


29.00 


35.00 


40.00 


45.00 





24 


35.00 


47.00 


60.00 


73.00 


87.00 


59 


27.00 


33.00 


38.00 


42.00 




25 


35.00 


47.00 


60.00 


73.00 


87.00 


60 


27.00 


32.00 


37.00 


40.00 




26 


3S.OO 


47.00 


60.00 


73.00 


,86.00 


61 


26.00 


31.00 


36.00 







27 


36.00 


48.00 


60.00 


73.00 


86.00 


62 


25.00 


30.00 


35. 00 




.... 


28 


37.00 


49.00 


61.00 


74.00 


86.00 


63 


24.00 


29.00 


33.00 






29 


37.00 


49.00 


61.00 


74.00 


86.00 


64 


24.00 


28.00 


32.00 






30 


37.00 


49.00 


61.00 


74.00 


85.00 


65 


23.00 


27.00 


30.00 






31 


38.00 


50.00 


62.00 


74.00 


85.00 


66 


22.00 


26.00 








32 


38.00 


50.00 


62.00 


74.00 


85.00 


67 


22.00 


26.00 


• . . . 






33 


38.00 


50.00 


62.00 


73.00 


84.00 


68 


22.00 


25.00 


.... 






34 


38.00 


50.00 


61.00 


72.00 


82.00 


69 


21.00 


24.00 








35 


39.00 


50.00 


61.00 


72.00 


82.00 


70 


'20.00 


23.00 








36 


39.00 


50.00 


61.00 


72.00 


81.00 















Note. — To the cash surrender value, as above, if applied for, will be added 
the cash dividend for the corresponding five-year (Uvidend period, if such 
dividend has not already been paid before this policy is legally surrendered to 
the company. Table of cash values after forty years wiU be furnished on 
application. 

Or, IP This Policy is Lapsed After Three Years — Paid-up Policy. — If 
this policy shall become forfeited for the non-payment of any premium^ after 
having been in force three full years, and the insured shall be over thirteen 
years of age at date of such forfeiture, the company will grant a non -participating 
paid-up l5e policy in accordance with chapter 356 of the Laws of 1895 of the 
State of New Jersey. 



78 

Provisions 

I St. Preliminary Provision. — No claim will be paid on this policy in 
case of the death of the insured before the date hereof, nor unless on said 
date the insured was alive and in sound health. 

2nd. Facility of Payment. — The company may make any payment 
provided for in this policy to any relative by blood or connection by marriage 
of the insured, or to any other person appearing to said company to be equitably 
entitled to the same by reason of having incurred expense in any way on behalf 
of the insured, for his or her burial or for any other purpose, and the production 
by the company of a receipt signed by any or either of said persons or of other 
sufficient proof of such payment to any or either of them shall be conclusive 
evidence that such benefits have been paid to the person or persons entitled 
thereto, and that all claims under this policy have beenfully satisfied. 

3rd. Policy When Void. — This policy shall be void if there is in force upon 
the life of the insured an industrial policy previously issued by this company, 
unless the policy first issued contains an endorsement, signed by the president 
or secretary, authorizing this policy to be in force at the same time: or if any of 
the representations upon which this policy is granted are not true; or if the said 
weekly premium shall not be paid according to the terms hereof; or if the person 
insured is under twelve years of age next birthday and is now or may hereafter 
be insured while under such age in this or any other company, and the total 
premiums on such insurances shall exceed ten cents per week. If for any cause 
this policy be or become void, all prerniums paid thereon shall be forfeited to 
the company except as provided herein. 

4th. Payment of Premiums. — All premiums are payable at the home 
office of the company, but may be paid to an authorized representative of the 
company; but payments to be recognized by the company must be entered at 
the time of payment in the premium receipt book belonging with this policy. 
If for any reason the premium is not called for when due, by an authorized 
representative of the company, it shall be the duty of the policyholder, before 
said premium shall be in arrears four weeks, to bring or send said premium to 
the home office of the company or to one of its district offices. 

5th. Period of Grace. — Should the insured die while the premium on 
this policy is in arrears for a period not exceeding four weeks, the company 
will pay the benefits provided herein, subject to the conditions of the policy. 

6th. Revival of Policy. — ^^If this policy is lapsed for non-payment of 
premium, it will be revived within one year from the date of lapse upon pay- 
ment of all arrears, provided evidence of the insurability of the insured satis- 
factory to the company be furnished. 

7th. Alterations and Waivers. — No person, except the president, one of 
the vice-presidents, the secretary, the assistant secretary or the actuary of the 
company, can alter this contract or waive any condition, privilege or provision 
thereof. 

8th. Limitation. — No suit on this policy shall be maintainable against the 
company unless brought within one year next after the date of death of the 
insured. 

Qth. Incontestability. — If the insured shall die one or more years after 
the date hereof, and if all due premiums shall have been paid, and full proof of 
death given to the company within one year next after the death of the insured, 
this policy shall be incontestable. 

loth. Misstatement of Age. — The benefits provided in this policy may be 
adjusted for misstatement of age. 

Special Privilege 

This policy, if not satisfactory to the insured, may be surrendered within 
two weeks after its date at the office of the superintendent whose name appears 
on the premium receipt book accompanying this policy, and the premiums paid 
thereon will be returned to the insured. 



79 



HINTS TO AGENTS 



OBTAINING APPLICATIONS 



If you are writing applications in a family it is better to 

get a number at a small amount each than one or two at a large 

o „ -r. • amount. Business secured in the former 

bmall Premiums 1^1 ,-, ^ -, 1 • , 

way lasts longer on the books and m the end 

pays better; the small premiums are much more likely to be 
kept in force than the large premium is. It is always advis- 
^ , able to secure advance payments on all 

Payments industrial applications. Among other rea- 

sons, it makes the payment of future pre- 
miums surer, because it accustoms the people to the fact that 
the insurance is something to be paid for. Don't forget also, 
that the first application that you secure in a family is only 
the entering wedge, so to speak, so after you 
the Wedffe have secured your application arrange with 

the family to collect the premium in the early 
part of the week, and select for this purpose a day which will 
give you the most time to canvass for more business in the 
family. If you use proper business methods there is no reason 
why every application you write should not be followed by 
others from the same family. 

No one will ever question that the important thing in the 
industrial business is the actual securing of the signed application 
and the first premium. Everything else is merely preliminary 
to this or exists as a result of this. Yet 
The Signature many assistant superintendents do not take 
T . the slightest pains to instruct their agents 

regarding that very important detail. Many 
men work the business nicely up to the point of securing the 
signed application, and in that they fail. Assistants should 
give especial instruction to their agents on this point, par- 
ticularly to new men. A method employed by one agent is 
to have the application in hand, to ask casual questions regard- 



8o 

ing age and occupation, etc., and to jot down these answers 
on the application blank — then when he thinks the subject is 
about ripe, he simply asks for a signature on the application 
already filled out, thus saving time and preventing the pro- 
spective applicant from changing his mind. After the applica- 
tion is signed he begins to talk "first premium." 

Of course you know that securing the application is only 
half the battle. No business is really written until it is placed. 

In placing the policy you should properly 
Placing Your explain all its good features to the purchaser. 

If you don't, some more enterprising agent 
of some other company will come along and explain it according 
to his own fashion and you will be one policy the less in your 
debit. Don't let any one get ahead of you in these particulars. 
This is a subject which is often brought to the attention of 
district managers. How shall the inevitable death lapse be 
offset? Some men appear to have no difficulty whatever in 

securing plenty of new business on death 

New Business_ lapses, while others complain that when they 

on Death Claims ^ , , . , ^ \ 

pay the claims they are never successiul 

in persuading the family to take more insurance. It is probably 
their own fault, for there is certainly no time more appropriate 
to mention the mission and benefits of life insurance than that 
when an example has just been given through the payment of 
a claim. The fault lies principally in the spirit in which the 
subject is approached. Promptness in paying the claim, cour- 
tesy and consideration to the bereaved, tact in approaching the 
subject, all should be exercised, and there is no reason then 
why the agent should not come back with a number of applica- 
tions, if he wants them, as a result of his enterprise. 

A word about canvassing for ordinary business on your 
industrial debit. Have you tried it? Don't you know that 
a great many of the heads of the families whom you have insured 
and are insuring in the industrial department 
Canvassing for are eligible for some form of ordinary insur- 
Ordinary on ^^^^ .pj^-g -g ^^^ ^^-^ ^^^^ ^^^ -^ -g equally 

Industrial Debits ■, r ^^ • ^ \ ^ i_ 

true and fully as important to remember 

that in all probability these people hold little or no life insur- 



8i 

ance save what you have secured for them, and they only need 
to be told that they can secure an ordinary policy for $1000 
or $2000 at a nominally low rate to look upon the plan with 
favor. Some industrial men have done so well in this respect 
that they have developed a fine line of ordinary, paying well 
in renewal commissions and adding very materially to their 
incomes. There is certainly no reason in the world why any 
industrial man of average ability should not be able to place a 
good amount of ordinary business every year. Suppose you 
think this over. 



82 



THE ART OF CANVASSING 



Do you know what "straight canvassing" means? It 
means something more than "canvassing" — something more 
than filling in your day by attending to a few back calls. It 

. , means "straight ahead" canvassing from 

C^vassing ^^^^^ o'clock in the morning until your 

working day is done — canvassing under system 
with well-defined plan. It means having your mind made up as 
to where you are going to work for the day, and then adhering 
closely to that plan, allowing nothing to interfere or deter you. 
You never can tell just where the business is going to be found — it 
may be in the very house you feel disposed to skip. The writer 
remembers a whole morning on a hot day in August on a broiling 
Philadelphia street canvassed from door to door without 
apparent result. No business obtained, nothing but discourage- 

^, ,^. . ment and disappointment to show for the 

The Virtue in . , .t' u ^ ^ ■ a 

the Unexpected ^o^^i^g s work, he was about to give up and 
go back to the office when he observed a small 
unpretentious brick house presenting no promise of business. 
He entered with the customary story and came out the richer 
by an application which not only repaid him for the morning's 
efforts, but actually made it possible to secure on back calls 
some business from those who had refused it on the first visit. 
You never know where the business is coming from. 

There is not now, there never has been, nor will there ever 
be, as long as human nature remains as it is, any real substitute 
for that method of canvassing for industrial insurance which 

_. . ^ contemplates ringing door bells and preaching 

Ringing Door ., ^ . . ,.? f ^^ , ,^ 

■ggjjg ** the gospel of life insurance on the weekly 

payment plan continually to the great masses 

of the people who have not heard, or if they have heard, have 



83 

not heeded. That is the only real common-sense way to get 
right down to the heart of the subject of canvassing, and the 
earnest, ambitious agent who wants to spend his time to the best 
advantage will tell you so. Ring door bells if you expect a 
successful career in industrial life insurance! 

"If you hear an agent say that he's canvassed fifty or sixty 
houses to-day," remarks a superintendent of a progressive and 
successful district, "you can make up your mind that he hasn t 

canvassed one of them properly. Industrial 

No "Rapid insurance can't be obtained in that rapid 

^^9*11 ^^' transit way. It is the agent who goes slowly, 

canvassing every house properly, missing 
none, who writes the business and gets the back calls. Thorough- 
ness in canvassing is as im^portant as in every other branch of 
the work. In fact it is the work which has to be done over again 
by somebody else which keeps many an otherwise progressive 
agent from succeeding. When you leave a house be sure you 
have covered the ground so thoroughly that no one can get any 
more out of it by following in your footsteps." 

One experienced superintendent puts the matter in this 
original way: "I love the straight canvass better than any 
other part of the business of industrial insurance work." 

It's a pleasure to meet people who are prej- 
p, ^ ^ 6 udiced against the business or those people 

who have little or no knowledge of it, and to 
work to convince them that it is a great beneficence and, more 
than all, that it is a necessity for them without which they can- 
not afford to live. The best people in any community are always 
ready to hear a man talk on any business which he thoroughly 
understands. So you see the necessity of learning the business 
so well that there will be no phase of it which can by any pos- 
sibility arise upon which you will not be well grounded. Tact is a 

necessary quailty in straight canvassing. 
lact m Tact is necessary in order to secure the 

audience; it is necessary in order to know 
how to properly broach the subject of life insurance. It tells 
when the talk has proceeded long enough and when you take 
up your hat.^But to the persistent straight canvasser who 



84 

uses tact the door of success is always halfway open and only 
needs another little push to open it wide for his admittance. 
Years ago, when the business of life insurance upon the 
industrial plan was first introduced in America, there was nothing 
else but straight canvassing. Then no well-organized, well- 
advertised company was back of every agent, 

Nothing but as it is to-day, helping him to success at every 

Straight Canvass- ^^^^^ ^^^ ^^^^^ ^^^^ ^^ ^-^^ ^^^ j^^^j ^^ ^e 

fought out by men who had the courage of 
their convictions, men who were not afraid to champion a new 
idea when they thought it was a good one. It was everlasting 
ringing of door bells in those days, for straight canvassing was 
the rule. Nothing else was thought of. No debits sufficient 
to support an agent existed. All was virgin soil, and the years 
have been spent in cultivating it. 

To-day straight canvassing remains just as it was then 
the only method by which to command complete successs in the 
industrial business. No matter how earnest and energetic may 

be your endeavors, unless you are, by straight 
Business canvassing, carrying your story into homes 

where you have never been before, and into 
families where the advantages and blessings of industrial 
insurance are unknown, you are not availing yourself of the 
only means you have of spreading your debit in new territory, 
and thus preventing what might well be called the "dry rot of 
inactivity." 

There is urgent necessity in every industral district for more 
"door to door" canvassing — every superintendent will agree 
in this — the only way to find the people who are not insured 

is by courteously and persistently ringing 
inorougn ^-^^ door bells. A great deal of tact is required 

to "straight canvass" properly — to know 
how to secure the audience — to realize when you have said 
enough — to waste no time and yet to avoid a superficial canvass 
— for, remember, that one house properly and thoroughly 
canvassed will bring better returns than a dozen "skimmed 
over," and in this, as in all other matters in this vast business, 
it is well to have a clearly defined system to follow. Of course 
you must develop your own plan, but here are some suggestions: 



85 

Death claims paid should always be utilized in canvassing to 
their fullest extent. Some superintendents issue a weekly 
statement, showing claims and dividends paid in the district 

during the preceding week, and the agents 
Hefp Canvassing i^imediately proceed to canvass thoroughly 

the neighborhood in which such payments 
were made. This is an excellent plan when properly worked* 
and seldom fails to bring increase. 

Most experienced agents always carry with them plenty of 
the most attractive literature issued by their company, advertis- 
ing cards, or any little novelty which will serve to bring them 
._ . into the house — for the great art in straight 

canvassing is to get into the house. You can 
talk to much better effect in the parlor than on the front steps ! 
An excellent plan is to secure the names of the inmates before 
you ring the bell, and, if possible, the number of insurable people. 
Then you can go "loaded for b'ar," so to speak, and it will be 
your own fault if you come away empty handed. 

Because you have been turned down once in canvassing 
in a certain house or section, don't let that disturb you nor 
prevent your attempting it again. Every man has the right 
liT A T\ >> "^o change his mind. Every one has the 

privilege of altering his opinions it he nnds 
that they are antiquated or unwise. So that it is frequently a 
very good plan, indeed, to take a list of prospective applicants 
previously canvassed without success and work them over care- 
fully. The results will generally repay you for the trouble. 
You can do it at very little waste of time, because you have 
already introduced the subject. It is always the last blow 
that drives the nail home. 

The End of all soliciting is new business, and the end of all 

new business is increase and nothing else. Don't be misled 

by the thought of a big issue week after week if it is going to 

be followed, later on, by a correspondingly 

Alwavs ^^^ lapse ratio. The end of all endeavor is 

"increase" — the quality of being a little 
farther ahead to-day than you were yesterday. That is the 
only progress, that counts a day lost that doesn't show some 
gain in results, whatever those results may be. So therefore, 



86 

if you are a new agent, do not cultivate the idea that your 

mission is to spread the blessed gospel of life insurance and be a 

walking encyclopaedia of the life insurance business — that is 

your privilege, it is true, but it's not your business, which consists 

of just two things, the getting of new business and keeping in 

force the old. The other features of the business are purely 

incidental, and apart from the main issue, which never, during 

business hours, should be lost sight of. I have seen men forget 

this, and their home offices have had to "call them down" on 

this very point — good business men, possessing judgment, tact 

and ability, and fine educators, but not producers. Don't forget 

that's what your superintendent needs andmusthave — producers. 

Men talk of the courage displayed on the battle-field and 

at other times when spirit and brawn are sorely tried, but they 

don't know what it means to ring the door bell of a strange 

house and inquire about life insurance. That 

The Courage takes courage of the deep-dyed order; the 

2, ,1 S,. courage of the true, determined man who, 

Bell Ringer . , , , . , . . 

without the spirit or enthusiasm which comes 

with the crowd, quietly makes up his mind to get the best of 
the difficulties which lie in his path and succeed through sur- 
mounting them. Did you ever start out in the morning with 
a little list in your hand, determined to call on every name it 
contained? How far down the list have you gone? Did you 
ever commence it? That's the difficult part, and yet that is 
what straight canvassing means — it's "straight ahead" canvass- 
ing. It means forcing yourself, in spite of doubts and fears and 
misgivings, to make the calls you had intended to make — to 
ring the door bells of the houses, one after another, which were 
on that list of yours. It isn't an easy thing, that's true, but it 
is the test of your will power and courage. You will find, after 
you are in the house, it's far easier than it seemed outside. 
If possible, always preface your little talk in a strange house by the 
gift of some little souvenir or advertising novelty, which is 

usually furnished by the companies for this 
Novelties^ purpose. This places you on a proper footing 

and if the article is accepted the "prospect" 
is bound in politeness to lend an ear to your story ; and having 



87 

thus your opportunity, it is your own fault if you fail to interest 
and convince. 

There was a man knocking the other day. Of course, there 
was a bell on the door, but this man was evidently in a hurry; 
he didn't stop to ring the bell, but, the door being unlatched, 
he walked in and commenced to knock, and, 
The Man ^^ course, he knocked on the inside of the 

Who Knocks , ^ ' ^ r. ^ t, 4. a 

door. So we came to see what he wanted, 

and, being inside already, we couldn't shut the door in his face, 
even if we wanted to, and we couldn't very well turn him out- 
doors without listening to his story, because, you see, when he 
heard us coming he had closed the door, but from the inside, 
mind you. There are some agents who are, figiiratively speak- 
ing, always getting on the inside before they ask any questions, 
and it's a mighty good habit, and one which usually pans out 
successful men. Not standing around cooling your heels on 
the doorstep of the proposition, but walking right up to it in a 
self-possessed, masterly manner, as if it and all the world beside 
belong to you; that's the manner that makes for success in this 
business. 

In straight canvassing one of the most difficult points, 

and one requiring the greatest tact and judgment, is that of 

obtaining the interview with the proper person in the house. 

Among the homes of the well-to-do it is 

The^"One to particularly difficult oftentimes to obtain 

®^ the first interview with the head of the house 

or the mother of the family you are trying to insure. In such 
cases it is often well to secure from a neighbor the name of the 
person whom you intend to canvass, so that in making your 
call you may ask for that person by name. This, with a judi- 
cious and liberal use of canvassing material, such as calendars, 
cards, advertising novelties, etc., of all descriptions, will do 
much to secure you the interview which you want. If word is 
sent that it is impossible to see you on that occasion, send in 
a polite request that you be given an interview at some future 
time. If properly urged your request will probably result in 
your obtaining an appointment, even if it does not result, 
as it frequently will, in your obtaining an interview right away 

— to save time. 



You will often meet people who tell you that they are not 
quite ready, but when they are they will send around. Don't 
take any stock in that, nor wait for him to send. The in- 
comprehensible thing about life insurance is 
The Business that as much as the public needs life insurance 

t th A^^nt ^* sends for the agent so rarely that when it 

does a suspicion is always aroused as to the 
character of the risk. To get business you must work for it — 
it will never come to you. 

In canvassing it is always well to set a mark for every day's 
attainments. Make up your mind to have a certain number of 

applications every day. One or two at least 
j^ ^^^ over and above your lapses for that day. 

Then stick closely to it each day until you 
reach that mark. That will insure your special salary every 
week, and that is what you want. Special salary every 
week — to have it one week and not the next is demoralizing 

to the agent and unsatisfactory to the com- 
Collections P^ny. Don't forget your two apphcations 

clear a day. Bear in mind that no matter how 
large your new business issue, nor how small your lapse rate, 
unless you are making the collections — you are not giving your 
company a profitable agency. Here is where you and your 
assistant should combine efforts if your record in this respect is 
not satisfactory. There is no reason when general business con- ■ 
ditions are as favorable as they are at present, why any agent 
should not average from 98 to 100 per cent on large debits and 
exceed 100 per cent on smaller ones. 

Be systematic in calling on the insured. Call at as nearly 
as possible the same hour on the same policyholders each week. 
Collect a few weeks in advance on every policy on which it 

is possible and above all things carry no 

System and fictitious balances of high arrears. D n't 

Advance Fay- collect on policies already in advance simply 
ments ^ . ^ . . -^ ^1 -X 

to make your balance appear small. But 

bring up your arrears. Bring them all into advance payments 

and you will have satisfied policyholders and a satisfied company 

back of you, few lapses and a good- sized special salary voucher 

each week. 



89 

A mistake which new agents frequently make in canvassing 
is in talking too much. Not quantity but quality of talk 
counts. Don't give the impression that you have "lots of 

words you never used yet" ready to spring 
Miich ^ °° °^^ ^^ ^ moment's notice. It is interesting 

talk which wins — not how much you say, 
but whether what you say is applicable to the particular situa- 
tion. Is it going to help to influence the prospect to give you 
his application — that is the important thing. Study human 
nature. Learn to avoid subjects of an unpleasant nature or 
subjects which divert the mind of the prospect from the business 
at hand until the application is obtained. 

So much has been said about the "advantage of a wide 
circle of acquaintance" in this business, and of the possibilities 
open to a person who has many friends, that it might be well 

right here to put in a word or two for the 

T r,.i,^^„ man who doesn't bother his friends, but who 

and Others _ .,.,,. . , 

dives right m, head foremost, into the sea 

of straight canvassing, determined to "sink or swim." The fact 

is that the business is very demoralizing when you simply try 

to "work" your friends and acquaintances, the circle of whom 

is, of course, more or less limited. A large circle of friends 

is not apt to help a man so very much, unless they are business 

friends whom he has made through canvassing. After all, 

it is the man who gets off of his debit and goes into the fresh 

new fields in canvassing who increases his list of available 

prospects — not the one who continues week after week to bore 

an over-indulgent friend who does not intend to give you an 

application, and never did, but is too polite to say so. 

Success in canvassing for life insurance requires a large 

man's size edition of "self-confidence." Don't let anything 

scare you. Not appearances, for industrial insurance is carried 

in palace and cottage. Not the "cold shoulder," for it needs 

r, t* /-I ^j insurance just as much as the warm one. 

Self-Confidence n.T ^ ^i .« ^^ „ r ^^ . -, r ^-^ i 

Not the wrath of the head of the house, 

for you have ever ready the "soft answer" to turn it away. 

Have confidence in yourself and your own abilities and the battle 

is half won. 



90 

The Call for "Increase." — There is continually an urgent 

necessity for door to door canvass. Increase should not be 

depended upon from homes in which the agent already has 

premiums, because in a great many instances 
Don't Overload, .1. •.- £ ^ j. ^ • 

Seek New Fields writmg of a five or ten cent mcrease 

on a policy that has been in force several 
years is the means of loading too much premium in that house — 
in a good many cases not only the lapse of the increase, but 
of the original policy also follows. Hence, it should be stated 
as a positive rule that all debits should be covered thoroughly 
and as quickly as possible for collections, so that the greatest 
amount of time possible may be devoted to the canvassing of 
people not insured — the persistent and continued ringing of 
door-bells. Of course the advantages of straight canvassing 
in this way are manifold — not the least advantage being that 
every new policyholder you secure should be made a lasting 
active advertisement for your company and yourself. 

Where Is the Business? — It is strange that men will often 
hunt the longest for that which lies at their feet. There is a 

story of a man who spent his youth in the 
Uu^ness ose pursuit of happiness which forever eluded 

him, until, in old age, after life had been 

wasted, he found it in his home. Just so in life insurance — 

your field is your own locality — your own block; your nearest 

neighbor first and after him the next one, and so on. 

"Where is business to be obtained?" asks the new agents 

who, seeing the field apparently so entirely filled, wonders 

where he shall begin to make his work effective. Well, you 

_^, , _ . don't have to look far for it. It is right 

Where to Begin , , r. ■.. . 

at your very door — often with your nearest 

friends. Don't imagine that the field is entirely covered, 

nor that your neighbor's field is better than your own. It is 

not. The best field is the nearest. 

"Method" and "system" are essential in the industrial 
business. One of the important things is a record of all "back 
calls " with sufficient explanatory memoranda to clearly identify 

1- p 11 ^^^ case when it is necessary. "Back calls" 

should be followed up religiously at the time 

appointed in your previous interview. Many a prospect who 



91 

did not want insurance when you first talked to him on the 
subject, may have changed his mind by this time. Don't 
give a case up while you know he is insurable and has the money 
to pay his premiums. Constant dropping wears away the stone, 
and continual application is bound to bring results. 

How many agents with debits appreciate the value of a real 
house-to-house, straight canvass? Many think they can secure 
» T • n-ff enough business directly from their debits. 
Your Debit ^^ ^^ ^ great mistake to confine yourself to 

such narrow possibilities. There is more 
business outside of your debit than there is on it. Canvassing 
in entirely fresh fields is the method which develops the agent's 
capacity, and increases his salary voucher. 

Don't get the "brown-stone shivers" when you run across 

a particularly imposing residence in the course of your day's 

^ - _. canvassing. Don't pass it by. There's as 

Oak versus Pine ^ -, ■ ^ ^ ,-,■-, 

much business, and often more, behind 

the granite front and doors of paneled oak, as there is in the 
less pretentious cottage. Only it takes a little more tact some- 
times to get it. 

A good many failures among industrial agents may be 

traced directly to the lack of proper instruction by their assistant 

superintendents. An assistant should be an educator as well 

. . as a manager, and a leader in all progressive 

Canvassing movements as well as a director of his men. 

The assistant who can go from house to house 
with his men, writing business with them, noting and comment- 
ing upon their shortcomings, and showing them by example, 
as well as precept, the proper method to obtain business and to 
keep it, approaches very nearly the ideal of a successful assist- 
ant. 

An insurance agent who just failed of having that amount 
of persistence which wins success tells this one on himself: 
He had found his way somehow into a factory, and had been 

canvassing among the employees for some 
"Sitting Next" time without result, and, after interviewing 

five or six, left without obtaining anything 
more substantial than a few back calls. On one of these he 



92 

found a worker in metals, who, as it happened, had been the 
last one interviewed on the occasion of his first visit, "You 
didn't wait here quite long enough," he said to the agent, 
"when you were here before. Brown, the man sitting over 
there on the next bench, heard that you 
$3000 and were in here, and wondered why you hadn't 

G^Tltl ^^^^^ ti'ied to see him. He was interested in life 
insurance, and your presence here reminded 
him of it. He made application two days ago for $3000 to the 
first agent who broached the subject to him. I guess you could 
have had that if you had seen him." May be that agent wasn't 
hot! The fact of the matter is, you don't know how close you 
may be to a profitable case if you only will keep on working. 
That agent, it is evident, lost a $3000 case just because he 
hadn't canvassed far enough. Had he gone on to the "next 
man" the commission that went to another agent would have 
gone to him. You never know whether the "next man" may 
not be just the man you are looking for. It's going to be the 
"next man" some day. May be to-day's the day. 

The time was, and not so very long ago either, when industrial 
agents could confidently look forward to the time when, with a 
debit of $100 to $150, he could expect to live well on his com- 
missions for collecting or ordinary salary, 

A ^°ia 6 while the hustle for new business need not be 

and a Big 

Salary Voucher niade so vital nor absorbing. This condition 

has been changed very largely, however. 
Debits of this size are rare, and very properly so, for the posses- 
sion of a very large debit predisposes its possessor to an idle life. 
The man with the big debit finds little time to canvass. But the 
most successful agents nowadays are those who have small debits, 
and sometimes no debit at all — straight canvassers, pure and 
simple. Do not, therefore, be discouraged if your debit is not 
as large as agents' debits used to be, or as that of someone else. 
Spend your extra time in canvassing, and your new business, 
both industrial and ordinary, will pay yoti far better than the 
collection of the premiums alone will ever do. 

Most people don't know what they really need when it comes 
to life insurance. Then, too, they lack decision. You must be 



93 

"long " on decision, and make up their minds for them. For, to 
make them think as you think is the essential 
A Matter of ^^^ ^^ canvassing. Anyone can canvass pros- 

Decision p^^^g ^^^ ^^^ determined to be insured, but 

who are only waiting to choose their company; that requires no 
wonderful art. The science of canvassing comes in, however, 
when you nin across the people who are opposed to life insurance ; 
those wives who would rather see the money go into some other 
channel; those husbands who don't see why they need provide 
for an indefinite contingency in the future; for those parents who 
see no necessity for protecting themselves and the remainder of 
the family against the financial loss caused by the death of their 
little one. Opposition should only inspire endeavor, not deaden it. 
There is no doubt that straight canvassing is the keynote of 
success in industrial life insurance. Is is by far the easiest part 
of the work and the agent who straight canvasses week after week 
prefers canvassing to collecting, especially 
Easier to Talk because of the large remuneration it affords. 
from the Inside ^j^^ ^^^ ^f straight canvassing is to gain an 
of the Door entrance into the house, because the agent who 

gets into the house is far more liable to write business than the 
agent who fails to do so. A good plan is to secure the name of 
the family living in the house before canvassing it, and wherever 
it is possible to do so the number of persons living therein who 
are insurable. When, after ringing the doorbell, a lady comes 
to the door, the agent will thus be able to address her by name; 
asking, for instance, "Is this Mrs. So-and-So?" Then the 
chances are that, thinking the agent must know something of 
the family, he will be invited to step inside. Now once this much 
has been accomphshed the rest is usually fair sailing, and he must 
needs be a very indifferent soHcitor, indeed, who leaves such a 
case without at least securing a prospect for future business. 
This may sound somewhat trivial, but it's plain common sense. 
Every industrial agent knows how difficult it often is to start the 
acquaintanceship which leads to business. After business has 
been obtained in one house it is then an easier matter to secure 
the names of those Hving in adjoining houses. So that the same 
operation may be repeated. 

It is the word spoken at the right time which counts. That 



94 

brilliant bit of repartee which you think of the day after the 
dinner is over is not going to give any satisfaction nor increase 

your celebrity as a local wit. It is the word 

t fh^^^^* Word spoken in season which brings the results. So, 

Rieht Time ^^ soliciting for life insurance, recollect that 

there is a right time to broach the subject — 
a right time to present your "little story " — a right time to clinch 
the argument by the application. There is where tact comes in 
— the knowledge of what is the right time and of what should be 
said just then. Some men need to be "jollied," some bullied, 
but the majority of business is won by honest, sound, earnest 
talk, "straight" from the shoulder — at the right time. 

There is the danger, on the other hand, of indulging in too 
much talking. It is frequently a weakness with new agents. 
The temptation to say it all, or try to, the first time. Don't go 

into every detail, nor produce so much oratory 
A Ton of ^jj^^ yQ^ confuse and bewilder the prospect. 

Ounce of Wit Don't forget that time is valuable, and can not 

be wasted, with profit, on words which do not 
bring results. A few strong, telling arguments for your com- 
pany, and the particular policy you are attempting to sell, are 
much more effective. They give the prospect an opportunity 
to think himself. It is not your desire to hypnotize him, but to 
lead him out of the paths of antagonism, or, more frequently, 
indifference to your line of thought. This can be accomplished 
more surely by the establishment of a friendly relation — an 
active and enthusiastic interest on your part, and a thorough 
confidence in you, on his part. You will find the moderate plan 
more effective than the use of too great flow of language. 

Not long ago a salesman who had just entered the employ of 

a leading New York merchant was sent out upon the road on his 

initial trip. He started off full of enthusiasm and hope, but 

. strange to relate, after six weeks of work he 

p " ^ awoke to the fact that he had failed to sell a 

dollar's worth of goods. While personally 
creating a good impression and making many friends, he had 
been unsuccessful in securing any business. Back to the office 
he came, downcast in spirit, expecting anything but the warm, 



95 

pleasant reception which the acute old merchant gave him as he 
grasped the despondent salesman by the hand and listened to his 
story. "Never mind," he said, "you pack up your valise and 
start right over the same ground again and don't show up for 
six weeks more — then come and tell me what you've done." 
And the old gentleman was right, for before the time mentioned 
had expired, more than $20,000 had been received in orders from 
the very persons who had previously turned him down. And 
so in our business — re-canvassing pays — pick out from the list 
of those you have canvassed recently a few of the more promising 
names, even if they did refuse you before; the answer is not 
always going to be the same way. 

There is no question that the man who writes the greatest 
number of industrial applications is the man who talks to the 
greatest number of insurable people. In other words, the main 

point is to enlarge the circle of your business 
and^"Hopefuls" acquaintanceship by canvassing so that you 

will continually have a long list on hand of 
both "back calls and hopefuls." Nothing is more discouraging 
to the canvasser, and especially to the beginner, than the failure 
which is almost sure to be the only reward for some of his efforts. 
There are bound to be some on the Hst whose business you are 
not going to get. The larger your list, therefore, the smaller the 
proportion of failures and the greater will be your success. Don't 
forget, also, that power comes from experience and practice, and 

that the greater your experience, the more 
Power of g^^^ interviews you have within the limits of 

the twenty-four hours, the greater the chances 
for your success. It is sometimes astonishing to note the power 
which experience of this kind gives. It is the true secret, if any 
there be, of the success of the greatest underwriters. 

Of course, you must not expect to accomplish everything all 
at once. The power to separate the individual from his money, 
and supply him with your commodity in its place, is not gained 

in a day, or anything like it. Like the hammer 
"^f^ Wni**^^ which works out the finished horseshoe from 

the bar of iron, patiently and slowly, yet 
forcibly and decidedly, the work is done, your success accom- 



96 

plished. It is not at all likely that you will secure many appli- 
cations on the first visit. Sometimes they come that way, but, 
after all, the business that is going to count in your success is the 
business that you have had to work hard for — that has neces- 
sitated many calls, and that, frequently, has given the least 
promise at first. After all, it is largely a question of who has 
the greater pertinacity and will power, your prospect or your- 
self — that is, -assuming that he is insurable and financially able 
to meet his premiums — and the man who sums up the greater of 
these characteristics is the man who will "win out" at the end. 
Right here comes into use your "back call" book. Are you 
keeping that little book as you ought to? Is it a faithful and 
accurate record of the business which you have failed thus far 

_, .r . , -r^ , to close, but which you have interested to the 
The Little Back .. r << n- • m^ t*. ua. a. u 

Call Book pomt oi callmg agam ? It ought to be, 

and, being kept up to date, should be a constant 
guide and help to the agent in making and keeping his appoint- 
ments. In this connection it is well to be reminded right here 
that night calls are among the most important factors in any 
industrial agent's success. The reason for this is found in the 
fact that frequently in canvassing in the daytime you will find 
it impossible or unwise to write any business in the absence of the 
husband and bread-winner, from whom, after all, the premiums 
«r 11 A ,1 • ^"^^st come. It is one of the worst plans in 

the Evening" ^^^ world to attempt to force matters whep 

you find that it is desirable to wait for this 
reason until evening. Take note of the fact in your "back 
call" book, and by all means call around in the evening at 
time appointed. See and consult the head of the family, and 
secure the application. 



97 



MAKING COLLECTIONS 



In the Fall a call goes out to the field for "high collections," 
"bring up the percentage of collections for December," and so 
on. Here is where assistant superintendents have a splendid 

opportunity to show their willingness to co- 
Non-D^ers operate with their companies by instructing 

their agents to lapse all non-paying business, 
even though not quite up to the limit in arrears. If it is not 
"paying" business, get it off the books — it doesn't belong 
there, and only shows a fictitious increase for special salary. 
With these policies lapsed, as they should be, your collections 
will be splendid. Of course, no business should be lapsed which 
there is any chance of saving, but there is always a certain 
amount of business upon which it is impossible to collect any 
further premiums, and this business should be lapsed. Assist- 
ant superintendents can do no better work than to see that 
their agents adhere strictly to this principle, while it will, of 
course, be far better for the agent himself in the end. 

There are many suggestions which might be offered to agents 
in connection with the important matter of collections. A great 
deal of the responsibility for a poor or excellent record in the 

matter of collections lies with the assistant 
Collections superintendent. This matter is one which 

Affent ^® ^^^ very largely control — he can and 

should insist on large collections, and he 
should assist in obtaining them by counsel and by practical work 
among and with his men. 



98 

In the first place, it should be the aim of every agent when- 
ever he writes new business to collect as much 
th* a' Tc tion °^ ^^^ application as possible — this gives the 
applicant a live interest in the policy, insures 
his taking it when delivered, and heightens the probability of his 
continuing it in force. 

It is an art to be a good collector. The art of separating 
people from their money is, after all, the most important of all 
arts. No business can be operated without it, and straight 
canvassing isn't the "only pebble," as the 
Collecting boys say. The cultivation of perfection in 

this art is very important and requires a great 
deal of thought and energy. In the first place, make up your 
mind never to leave the house until you have obtained the 
money. Politely, but firmly, insist upon its payment. Take 
no excuses, and do not offer to pay the money yourself "this 
week." You are not a charitable institution. Select a certain 
time to call upon each policyholder. What is the best day? 
TVi "R f n Monday preferably, before the week's money 

has been spent. If you have a large debit, 
of course, you cannot make all your collections on that day, but 
whatever time is selected should be adhered to religiously, and 
any tendency on the part of the policyholder to "put off " should 
be promptly checked. In that way only can collections be 
systematically and properly made and good returns sent in 
each week. 

Talking about collections, don't forget the simple, yet impor- 
tant fact that good collections mean low lapses. It seems to be 
hard to bring some men to the realization of the fact that people 
. who pay do not lapse. Good collections not 

Even successful canvassers who cannot collect 
soon get discouraged, and when they see business slipping away 
from them they want to go, too. This is just the time, of course, 
when the assistant should step in and show him how to make 
extra collections, and send him on his way rejoicing. 

The size, success and progress of your company ; its standing 
in the field of life insurance are measured, first of all, not by the 



99 

amount of business written, but by the size of its yearly cash 

,, , T income. Now, that income, at least that 

Yearly Income ^ ^r -^ i,- i, • j j 

part oi it which is premium income, depends 

upon one thing, and that is the amount which you manage to 
collect from your debit during the course of the year. This is 
the vital part of the business — the active 
the Business piilse whose throbs indicate plainly the con- 

dition of the organization back of it. There- 
fore, as upon the amount of the collections depends the very life 
of the company, no wonder they make so great a point of this 
branch of the work. 

Advance Payments may be called the "Insurance of Insur- 
ance." The man whose policy is paid for several weeks in 
advance need never fear anything happening which will deprive 

^,^, , him of his protection or make it necessary for 

The lustird.nce ... 
of Insurance" ^^^^ ^^ discontinue his premium. For instance, 
the man whose policy is paid four weeks in 
advance has actually eight weeks' leeway, or grace period, during 
which no premiums need be paid, before his policy could be 
reported for lapse. So, you see, in the event of any reverse or 
occurrence preventing his making payments, he would still have 
eight weeks in which to raise the money to keep his policy in 
force. This works better for the agent, for it prevents lapse, 
and for the insured, for it secures his protection. 



100 



SOME THINGS TO AVOID 



A story is told of a popular young entertainer who once was 

called upon to give his repertoire of recitations and imitations at 

a private insane asylum. The audience was very attentive, 

.^ , . and at the close of the performance one gentle- 

Delusions J • r J J ^t, 

man arose, and coming forward, grasped the 

entertainer by the hand, thanking him for the pleasure he had 

given those who had heard him. "Now," he continued, "you 

know I'm not really crazy, myself; of course they all say that, but 

really there's nothing the matter with me; I'm only serving out 

my term. I'm really all right now, and could go home any time, 

but I've decided to serve out my term." The young man 

expressed his appreciation of the gentleman's remarks, and 

asked him to call upon him when he should come back to New 

York. The inmate said he would be delighted to do so. "But," 

he added, "have you apiece of toast in your pocket? " "Why," 

asked the entertainer, "don't they feed you 
^^d t'h*^^* properly? " "Oh, yes," responded the other. 

Poached Egg "They feed me all right, but you see I'm a 

poached egg, and if I could only get a piece of 
toast to lie down on I could get just the rest I've been looking 
for." You see that poor fellow had a delusion. There 
are 'some agents who are laboring under the delusions 
that they are doing all the work they can, and are making 
all kinds of progress, when they are really doing nothing 
of the sort — under a delusion. Then there are the agents who 
are spending half their time on old prospects, all worked out, 
where there is not the slightest prospect of striking "pay dirt." 
More cases of "delusion." There's the agent who refuses to 
straight canvass, because he believes he can get rich quicker 
. , another way. More delusions. Avoid them; 

quick Agent " ^^^^^ ^° ^^^^^ straight, to have good judg- 

ment, to exercise it wisely, so that your results 
may show it, that your records may be clear, clean and creditable. 



lOI 

and you'll find that the time you have wasted heretofore in 
unprofitable work, which hasn't paid any dividend, will be spent 
now in more lucrative forms of work. Not avoiding work because 
it is hard, but doing the class of work which brings the greatest 
returns, no matter just in what form it may develop. 

Of course, the agent will be met by all sorts of arguments, 
left by all sorts of other agents, with those whom you are solic- 
iting, and many of them will deal with the marvelous progress 

of this company, or the tremendous increases 
"Other Fellow" iiiade by that company, but don't go into that ; 

keep your eye on the fact that you are selling 
life insurance for only one company — your own — and the less 
you say about others the better. Certainly you are not called 
upon to "talk them down," nor to go into details regarding their 
statements. You are called upon, however, to talk your own 
company up, and to show the advantages and benefits of its 
policies — not the shortcomings of others. You will find that 
nothing at all is gained by harsh criticism or picking flaws in 
other people's contracts; show up, rather, the superiority of your 
own. It is in this way only that you can win the respect of those 
with whom you will come in business relations. 

If there is one form of mental dissipation worse than another 
it is the practice of many life insurance agents in spending hours- 
of time, in going over in public and with each other all the har- 
rowing details of the case they didn't write — the case they could 

write, but didn't. The friend who promised 
Business ^^ ^^^ word of honor as a gentleman to give 

them the application, but who forgot and 
gave it to some one else. All these stories are told not to enter- 
tain the hearer, but to relieve the tortured feelings of the dis- 
appointed story-teller himself. And of all the discouraging, 
nerve-breaking practices this is one of the worst. Avoid it. 
It's a time waster; tell of your successes, if you like, but let your 
failures go. No one likes to hear of them nor respects you the 
more for them. The business you have placed, not the business 
you came "pretty near writing," is the only thing that counts. 

Many agents find it comparatively easy to obtain prospects. 
They can cultivate their friendships and go through all the 



102 

preliminary work of canvassing, but when it conies right down 
p, . p to the practical and essential work of " closing 

up" the case they find it a very different 
matter. The remedy for this lies principally in devoting more 
time to the case in question. Avoid treating your cases super- 
ficially. Finish your work on every prospect — after your 

■r. . T .^ application has been taken. Do not lose 
Easy to Lose it , r , ■, , -,. , 

track of the prospect until the medical 

examination has been made, and even then there is often 
opportunity for your prospect to slip away from you unless 
you are very attentive. Therefore, do not neglect your pros- 
pects. Not until the money has actually been paid and the 
policy issued and accepted is your business perfectly secure, 
and best of all — collect your premium in advance. 

Excessive arrears come from breaking your company's rule 
regarding lapses. If you will adhere strictly to this rule, 
lapsing every policy as your rules provide, refusing steadfastly 
< ^° carry other people's policies for them, 
Excessive Arrears i^^''^^^^ ^^ inducing them to carry them them- 
selves. If you will be attentive and careful 
in these respects, you will be in no danger from excess arrears, 
which discourage the worker and keep him in a continual 
condition of worry, knowing as he does that "they all come 
home to roost." 

There is no greater fallacy in the business which the indus- 
trial agent has to contend with than that which makes him 
withhold reporting certain policies for lapse when due, on the 
ground that the policyholder has promised 

Com^pany's mles P^y"^^^* ^^^ that the agent will make 
enemies of them if he lapses. This has led 
to the accumulation of more excess arrears and involved more 
agents in trouble than any other single feature of the business. 
The fact of the matter is that when a policy is four weeks in 
arrears it should be lapsed, no matter what promises you may 
get. If the premiums are not forthcoming in 
Lapse all business ^ month they will usually not be any nearer 

our wee s m paid in six or eight weeks, and when the 

arrears . 

inevitable lapse does come, by inspection, 

if not before, from your pocket will have to come the amount to 



103 



make good the deficiency. The fa.lt lies, not -'^h the'^^^"*;^ 
in this case, but simply that the agent has been afraid to lap^, 
perhaps, because the charge therefor would ^^°^ ^^ ^^^ 
into decrease for the week, or because he did not desire to 
oflend the policyholder who has promised him the money if 
the first is the reason there is. of course, no excuse for his 

failure in obeying the rules of the -°»P-'^y =^f J^ullary 
policy instead of attempting to conceal it so ^^at special salary 
may be drawn. On the other hand, if the reason be the agents 
desire not to offend the poUcyholder, he is wrong; for the very 
people for whom you are holding the policy or whose premiums 
vou are prying for them, will be the first to condemn your 
Ltion « ftl criticized. Better be on the safe and sensible side 
and lapse all policies four weeks in arrears. 

TuTt a word or two about them. It is to be supposed that 
verjfew fndeed, industrial agents ever start with the idea o 
allowing their debits to get into such a -^f ^'^ ^^^^^^^^^^^ 

arrears will accumulate on it or their accounts 
Deficiencies ^^ become so muddled that somebody from 

the home office will have to bring them up with a round turn. 
TetZtis the unpleasant predicament in which many a wel - 
meanrn ' but injudicious agent finds himself after a few nionths 
"perhaps indeed even weeks, of work. How does it come 
:;out? Certainly not intentionally, but --f^ becau Ae 
agent has not been careful to live up closely to the rules laid 

'"There'fitfoTnds of ruts; first, the kind that a man 
makes for himself, and then there is the rut which others make 
for him We are, perhaps, most used to consider a rut as a 
for him. w ^P^^^ ^^^^ ^^^^ ^^ continual and heavy 

Keep out of your ^ravehng of the same kind of vehicles m the 
own track ^^^^ direction. But, after all, the ruts that 

a man finds are by no means so deep or so hard to get out of 
IZ ™ts which a man makes for himself as he goes his ordi- 
r»rv accustomed way, and of all these, none are more fearful 
thS thoseTwhich many an industrial agent has accustomed 
Wrse5f to travel. Antiquated, out-of-date -fods"^ can- 
vassing, of keeping accounts of prospects and business, 



104 

keeping track of collections — all these are "ruts" — the spirit 
which keeps a man pegging away at an old worn-out theory 
for obtaining business, instead of getting right out and hustling 
for it. All these are "ruts," And the difficulty with the "'rut" 
is that the longer one travels in it the deeper it gets, until one 
is unable to see over the sides at all, and it becomes a narrow 
and biased line of life which prevents real progress and makes 
almost impossible that broad education in the business which 
is necessary to a complete success. Avoid ruts. Don't be 
afraid of adopting new ideas. The brightest men are con- 
tinually availing themselves of the most advanced ideas. 

In canvassing different people employ different methods. 
Some men never think of soliciting insurance among personal 
friends, others strive to extend their circle of acquaintance for 

that very purpose. Then again some agents 
Get a plan and -^ ^ ^ . . . ^ . ^ 

then work it ^^^ very successful m canvassing among per- 

sons of a certain occupation — such as, for 
example, carpenters or masons. Endless are the plans in 
operation, but there is, after all, no "short cut" to success in 
canvassing for insurance. This is something which your 
experience must determine for you — the particular method 
which you may find most effective in bringing in the applica- 
tions — but no matter what plan you decide upon, the only 
way to make it successful is to apply it intelligently, earnestly 
and energetically. 

The practice of "twisting," or urging a policyholder to give 
up his policy in one company so as to take one in yours, is an 
evil one, and none the less so because it happens to refer to 
industrial business. Of course, there are 
t«x ^ .. „ agents who think it necessary to do this 

very thing in order to get business, but, 
after all, it doesn't pay. If from no other motive than that, 
it should not be continued. Just see how it works. Here is 
a family holding, say, three industrial policies, and you suggest 
that, "in view of the fact that your company is offering such 
superior inducements," etc., etc., he consider these and let 
the old ones drop. Of course, you say nothing about paid-up 
insurance or dividend, or any other privileges to which the age 



105 

of the policy may have entitled them. You simply urge that 
the policies be dropped and those issued by your company 
taken in place. This is done, and what is the result? It is 
only a short time before the agent of the other company calls; 
tells his former policyholders what they have missed in sur- 
rendering their policies in this manner, and offers to reinstate 
them on easy terms. Of course, they are likely to be more 
valuable at that time than the new ones, which now are dropped 
in turn, and thus the war continues. An agent can do no better 
work for himself than to allow competing business which has 
been in force some years to remain in force, only adding such 
additional sums upon the same life as the conditions will war- 
rant. This kind of business will stick best and bring better 
returns in the end. 

The steeple-chaser must take all the fences — no going 
around one and taking the next. He must take the jumps as 
they come, for if he doesn't he is disqualified. So with the 

industrial agent. When difficulties and 
■p obstacles arise in the path, don't be afraid 

of them. Don't balk and try to go around 
them — leap over them — take the jump and you'll land on the 
other side ready and anxious for the next. It is surprising how 

much a man loses if he doesn't follow this 
timitv EsSme course. Every difficult case allowed to go 

by the board, every doubtful case lost, every 
wavering policy allowed to lapse cost you just so much in 
energy, thought and time expended without result, to say noth- 
ing of the loss of momentum which you suffer. You cannot 
afford to let a single chance escape, on the plea that there are 
plenty more to come — that particular opportunity will never 
return, nor will the next one be handled with the confidence 
and power which success with the first would have given you. 
Success is not a matter of sudden growth ; it consists of never 
letting an opportunity escape — of taking advantage of each 
chance, of seizing each occasion as it comes and turning it 

into profit. Thus by gradual and continual 
Success ^ aggregations is the edifice of success at length 

built up. In no other way will it be perma- 
nent and lasting. 



io6 

Of course the "has been" is everywhere, and particularly in the 

field of life insurance. This is because the field is so easily entered, 

and many men continually start in it who by reason of failure 

to succeed at first drop out to fill the ranks 

"Hsfs^B^ens" °^ *^^ "^^^ beens." These men are the 

ones, of course, who continually throw dis- 
credit upon the business. Their influence upon beginners it 
very injurious. It engenders discouragement and failure just 
at the time when the new agent needs all his courage and nerve. 
Have nothing to do in a business way with the "has been." 
Get your inspiration and advice from your assistant or super- 
intendent, or at least from those agents who have themselves 
been successful. The advice and experience of the failures in 
any business are not worth having. The failure sees things 
from his own especial standpoint only. He forgets the great 
field of opportunity which lies just beyond his unsatisfactory 
experience. He never has talked anything but defeat, so he 
is quite sure there is no such thing as success. 

We don't disparage the "back call;" they are a useful 
institution; there's money in them — something profitable for 
rainy-day canvassing. A book full of back calls is a list of 
"special salary futurities," as somebody has 
Back call expressed it. No, the back call is all right. 

Books— How ^^^ ^£^gj. ^^^ -^.g ^. ^ ^^^^ ^^Yl, isn't it?— 

to Keep inem . r ■, • , .1 i • 

a prospect for future business — not the busi- 
ness itself. You'll find it pretty hard to pay the butcher with 
them, I'm afraid, and it's doubtful if the conductor will accept 
the back call book for fare, be it ever so full of gilded promises. 
The back-call book is good just to the extent that you are able 
to endorse across the names it contains, "policy issued," and 
the best time to commence doing that is now. 

A good way to increase the value and practical service of the 
back-call book is to place opposite each name the amount of 
weekly premium you can reasonably expect to secure from the 
prospect. In this way you accustom yourself to think of the 
records therein as having a hard cash significance to you, and 
not a mere "habitation and a name." Then secure from each 



107 

prospect the amount of business you have entered in the book, 
and you make it of some practical value. 

No practice is more fatal to the ultimate success of any 
agent than rebating. It saps away the very mainspring and inspi- 
ration of the agent's work, for it takes all the profit of the 
. work away from it. The disadvantage arises 

ebating ^^^^ ^^^ ^^^^ ^^^^ ^^^ rebater always relies 

upon his renewal interest to bring him his profits; but the 
insured, through a curious freak in human nature, values only 
those things in life insurance that he pays for — if he has two 
policies, one of which has cost him his good money to obtain, 
and the other obtained on a rebating proposition. It is not diffi- 
cult to guess which is going to be given up when the pinch comes. 
So the rebater finds continually that lapses are cutting his 
renewal interest down to a minimum figure, cutting his profit 
down correspondingly. Your rebater is generally a poor man 
in consequence. Industrial men, in writing ordinary, will do 
well to take a decided stand on this important question. The 
writer's experience has been that rebating is as unnecessary as 
it is demoralizing. You will never lose any business by refusing 
to rebate. 

Antagonism is always easier to overcome than indifference. 
The man who is solid against life insurance, who talks down 
your company and its practices, who raises two objections to 
every argument which you advance is, after 
Antagonism, all, much easier to deal with than the man 

CanvasSn^^ ^^^ ^^° ^^ ^° sluggishly indifferent to his interests 
and the interests of those who are dependent 
upon him that he will allow you to talk for an hour without 
eliciting any appreciable response. But both kinds, as well as 
many others, are continually met with in canvassing. Don't 
let either of them scare you, for you should never forget that in 
selling industrial insurance you are canvassing for an article 
tried and tested by the experience of years, which has met 
successfully every criticism and contention which the jealous 
or the unprogressive mind could invent. The system itself 
stands to-day higher than ever, a wonderful example of the 
power for good which exists in the dime and the dollar. If 



io8 

you can't sell industrial insurance the fault is not in the policy, 

nor with your company. Search yourself! 

There is no royal road to success in life insurance. The 

man who has started in with the idea that he is going to win 

success in the agency field or promotion to an assistancy without 

TO- T* 1 T. J work has sadly miscalculated. The industrial 
No Royal Road , . , -^ , 

Dusmess demands common sense, tact and 

perseverance, together with hard work. Special talent is not 
necessary, but ordinary business judgment, combined with 
industry, is essential, and the possessor of these qualifications 
who also knows how to "stick " has his success 
Business already assured. Not upon outside conditions 

but upon your own determination depends 
your business career in the industrial field. There is plenty 
of business right around you — find it! 

Don't be discouraged if your first month's efforts have not 
yielded you quite what you expected. You are gaining a valu- 
able experience, and every policy written should be made the 
stepping stone to another. 

Try to keep your book of "prospects" full — remember that 
the longer your list of "prospects" and "back calls" the greater 
the average chances of your writing business. 
The greater your ^-j^q difficulties which you are experiencing 
■DrosDects the x- o 

better vour ^^^ ^^^ particularly novel. Your assistant 

prospects ^^^ your superintendent had the same diffi- 

culties to encounter, but they had the pluck 
to overcome them. You should certainly have it too! 

Never forget for one moment that you are in the business 
to stay — to make a success of it. Not as a temporary make- 

v , • J. c^j. shift — "until something better turns up"! 
You're in to Stay ^ . , f , . , .. 

Bring to your work the highest attributes 

and best energies of mind, heart and hand, and your weekly 

salary voucher will soon tell the story of your success to your 

expectant family. 

"Stick to business" is a motto'which every industrial man 

e.. , . -o • should paste in his hat, and fix forever indel- 

Stick to Business .... ^ . . . „„ ' , ^ , • 

ibly m his brain. Stick to business — you 

have no time to waste on other people who don't stick to theirs. 



109 

A good business man never allows his capital to become 

impaired. He may suffer inroads upon his interest earnings. 

He may allow his dividends to be consumed in outside invest- 

ments, but if he is an acute business man 

CapS5— Time ^® ^^^^ ^^^* *° ^^^ death any proposition 
which contemplates the impairment, however 
slight, of any portion of his working capital. That he guards 
because the very existence of his business, in a sense, depends 
upon it. Your time is your capital. Everything which inter- 
feres in any way during business hours between you and the 
business of the company you represent is an 
No time to waste, impairment of your capital. Every idle dis- 
but plenty • . . • 

to spend cussion on a street corner is a wanton waste 

of yoiur capital, Ever)^ useless argument with 
a rival agent is a waste of capital — don't do it. You are after 
business, and your hours are too precious to be used where they 
will do no good. You have no time to waste. 

On the other hand, remember that though you have no 

time to waste you have it to spend when the 
Also some to investment promises to be a good one. One 

invest on • i,- t, -4. i, ^ 

accuracy ^^^ ^^ which it may be very properly spent and 

with profit is in the care and attention of the 
details of your business. 

Time properly spent in looking after the details is not time 
wasted — it is time gained. There are many ways in which time 
may thus be spent to good advantage. 

The application — take time to complete it before forwarding 
it to the office. To start right we must have a correct appli- 
cation, because the application is the basis of the contract. 
See that every question is answered properly, and the answer 
to none omitted. They are all important and essential ques- 
tions, although you may not think so. 

Take time at intervals to check up your collection book with 
your life and lapse registers. This will prevent the accumula- 
p. . ., tion of arrears without your knowledge, and 

prevents that weight of tribulation and woe 
which inevitably follow the discovery of excess arrears upon 
your book. Look after the details. 



no 

There is another detail of your business which is of the 
utmost importance and one to which it is not only the duty, 

but the sound policy of every agent to give 
^ close attention — the matter of courtesy and 

politeness to policyholders. Nothing pays larger returns on 
small investments than politeness. Policyholders and pros- 
pective policyholders appreciate courtesy in an agent, and in 
the long run the polite agent will secure and keep the greatest 
amount of business, other things being equal. 

And that brings us to another thought. The duty of an 
agent when collecting is not merely to collect his premium and 
run. Courtesy to the policyholder directs that you present him, 

when it is practicable, with whatever may be 
Attention to ng-^ a^jj interesting about your company. 

Pa^^s^^°^^^^^ New Hterature just pubhshed, which you think 

will interest him. New features of the busi- 
ness just developed, which you think it will advance his interests 
to know. Not only politeness but good business acumen direct 
that you should do this. Policyholders appreciate this atten- 
tion, and it helps to place all — policyholder, company and 
agent — on a better footing together, and all this works for 
"more business" — some time. 



Ill 



HONOR LISTS, ETC. 



The large industrial companies, at a considerable outlay of 

trouble and expense, publish and circulate, from week to week, 

"Honor Lists" of the leaders in every department of field and 

H L' t agency work. Do you ever stop to realize 

what it means to have your name on these 

lists? A great deal more, you may be sure, than merely the 

honor and satisfaction of having your name in print — though 

that is a great incentive, we must admit. It 
Is your name , , , , , , , 

on them"!* means that you are among the successful — 

whether you be an agent, assistant or super- 
intendent; that as a business producer you are demonstrating 
your ability and thereby are helping to build up, year after 
year, the power and fame of the organization with which you are 
identified. 

As a field worker, therefore, it should be your constant aim 
to see your name on these published "Lists of Leaders," and it 
should be your pride to see that your name is kept well up 

toward the top and in a better position each 
stav listed month. You will find, if you try it, that not 

only can this be done but the effort required 
to get "listed," to stay "listed" and to advance upon this 
ladder of fame will give you a creditable record which may win 
you rewards and promotion. 

"Not every one can be a leader! " did you say? Very true; 
but some can, some will, and the thing for you to worry about is 
not what the other fellow is going to do, but just about yourself. 

Are you doing your best? Are you working 

a leader ^ ^^^^ ^^^ ^^^ strength of body and of brain, 

with enthusiasm and determination to win 

the prize yourself? If you are, then you will come pretty near 

gaining it, and let the man who is just above you on the list do 



112 

his own worrying. There's room enough for you there if you 
will only push yourself to the top. 

An excellent plan is to select some feature of the business 
and make up your mind to excel in that particular. Suppose 
you decide that you will secure a larger amount of new business 

than any other agent in the district during a 
Excel in one certain period of time — say three months — 

particular ^^ ^-^^^ ^^^ ^-^^ obtain the highest percentage 

of collections, the greatest number of revivals, 
the smallest arrears, or the least lapses. The variety is large 
to choose from. Your experience will suggest which is the 
most available, but having started, persevere until you have 
secured for yourself the reputation and position which you covet. 
Its results will be felt in your increased income, and very likely, 
your selection to fill a higher position in the future. 

For it should never be forgotten by the agent, that in that 
large and somewhat vague combination of forces, business 
machinery and originative genius called the "Home Office," 

there are those whose eyes are constantly 

Home Office upon the field. They are scanning the records 

Constantly ^^^j^ constant and minute attention to find 

VT atcninfif 
for Merit that "pearl of great price," a competent man. 

The opportunities for promotion are many, 
but it is only the man who has shown his fitness for it in con- 
ducting his agency who will be selected to fill the assistant's 
chair. And this should be an inspiration to every ambitious 
agent, for here ambition never lacks opportunity nor merit its 
reward. 

There is everything in training. Some men go through life 
half trained, half prepared for the struggles which are sure to 
come to them. Is it any wonder that there are so many unsuc- 
cessful people in the world? No business 
tverytning m demands more insistently a proper training 
in order to succeed than does life insurance. 
A certain kind of education is necessary — a knowledge of your 
business — a thorough knowledge. The industrial field numbers 
among its workers men of every grade — college men, university 
men, men who received their education at the common schools, 
men who might be said to have received no education at all, 



113 

and each grade has its representatives among the successful, 

but you cannot find one man among all those who are making 

a success of industrial life insurance to-day who has not a 

thorough working knowledge of his business in all its principal 

phases. This may be thought a sweeping statement, but it 

is true, because without that knowledge no permanent success 

can be gained. 

"To him who hath shall be given" is another way of saying 

"nothing succeeds like success." People like to deal with 

successful men. There is nothing strange about that. You do 

_ ,, , , not feel exactly like intrusting your important 

Don't be a tramp , . „ • ■, ■, ^ r 

business affairs to the hands of a tramp or 

to those whom you suspect to be incompetent in business mat- 
ters. The successful life agent who has a reputation for writing 
large amounts of insurance inspires confidence, creates power, 
gains ability, breadth and experience with every new case. 
He has no difficulty in securing audiences, nor in influencing 
them in the right direction, which, after all, is the most impor- 
tant. 



114 



ASSISTANT SUPERINTENDENTS 
AND AGENTS 



There are some agents in this business who would rather 

spend ten cents carfare every day than give up five cents worth 

_ . of business — ^not because there is any profit 

Xr3.iisi6rs 

in a debit scattered all over the city, but from 

a natural short-sightedness. The concentration of debit will 

greatly facilitate the work of both assistant and agent, saving 

. time and money and permitting both to be 

of Debit better known in a given locality than they could 

possibly become by any other means; for it 

is not the extent of territory covered, but the thoroughness with 

which it is covered, which counts in this business. For that 

reason a few policies located some distance 

Concentration of away from the main body of the debit are 

^^ J^^t^^r,^^^ apt to be more of a loss to an agent than a 
and energies ^ . ^ , „ 

brings Success gain for him. Concentrate your mind and all 

your faculties to this business, keep your 
business within a limited area and you will be successful. 

Industrial insurance is intended to reach the poor, of course, 
as well as those in comfortable circumstances, but it is not 
intended to reach the indolent, shiftless, nor the worthless 

poor, who are insured and lapsed and insured 
Avoid the ^j^^j lapsed again by agent after agent who is 

Unin^umble careless of anything beyond the special salary 

of to-day, and who gives no thought toward 
his success of to-morrow. These people are the bane of the 
insurance business, and superintendents and assistants should 
use all their powers of prevention to protect their company 
from the evil effects of this kind of business. It makes more 
discontent, causes more discouragement and induces more 
finals than any other single course in the business, and the 



"5 

efforts of assistants can be directed in no better nor more 
profitable a channel than by refusing to allow such business to 
be written. 

Back of every final there is a cause, an influence, which has 
been working some discontent or dissatisfaction. Now, finals 
insure lapses and lapses bring failure. So the assistant super- 
intendent who is having many finals will do 
Finals ^lapses ^^ ^ investigate each case with a deter- 

— failure . . ^ ° . , . . ^ ^i i_ ^ 

mmation to find out just what is at the bot- 
tom of each agent's decision to leave the service. One thing is 
sure, men do not give up positions which are bringing them good 
incomes with fair chances of promotion, unless some other 
occupation offers higher remuneration for their services. As, 
however, it is usually the case that the busi- 
ness to which the ex- agent has transferred 
his allegiance usually fails to offer as favorable prospects as 
this business does, the natural conclusion is, of course, that he 
has not been making the success financially in industrial insur- 
ance that he should have been, and this, upon examination, 
nearly always turns out to be the case. 

Half-paid men are not going to be productive men in a busi- 
ness sense ; but there is no reason why every agent in this business 
should not be a well-paid man, for it all rests upon his own 
exertions; but, first of all, it rests with the 
"^"TEd^^^^^t'on assistant superintendent to see that those 
exertions are properly applied. Lack of 
training kills more men, figuratively speaking, than lack of 
ability. Most men have the ability to succeed. What they 
need are the inspiration and the education, both of which can 
and should be furnished by the assistant superintendent. 

This is, of course, a matter of education and experience. 
And how much in the way of direction and counsel the super- 
intendent and assistant can do in this line for their agents, if 

_, ,. . , they will! Never send a raw agent out can- 
Starting Agents -". . .. -L, 1 -Z r\f 

vassmg alone, if you can help it. Ui course, 

circumstances may make it necessary at times, and then the 

assistant should go over each case with the new agent, very 

carefully giving him the result of his wider knowledge and 



ii6 

experience. It is well, also, for the assistant to call in the 
evening with the agent upon prospects which the latter has 
found it impossible to close. He will then obtain some practical 
_> . . lessons in the art of properly presenting the 

subject of insurance. He will see how easily 
it can be accomplished when one has the tact of doing it just 
the right way, and it will be very unusual if one or more appli- 
cations are not obtained as a result of the evening's work. 
After a week or so of such tuition, the agent is well fitted to 
start out for himself and by himself with prospect of success. 

One of the most important factors in the success or failure 

of an assistancy is the character and calibre of the men whom 

the assistant obtains to fill out his staff. Upon his ability to 

-0-1, surround himself with the right kind of men 

Class Men depends his success or failure as an assistant. 

In selecting agents, therefore, too much care 
cannot be used. In the first place get good men — men who 
are at present employed at some other line. If they are making 
a success now, they will be all the more apt to make a complete 
success in industrial insurance. With few exceptions, men who 
have made a failure in everything they have undertaken are 
not going to be successful in this line. Show men the advan- 
tages which come to successful agents and assistants in this 

business, the possibilities before them, what 
Live, Aiobitious, others have accomplished, and what they 
Wanted i^^-y. if they will, and you will not find it so 

difiicult to get the right kind of men inter- 
ested as you may have supposed. For, after all, this is no place 
for sluggards, failures and "beats," but for live, earnest men, 
men with ambition, with determination and energy, who are 
capable of discovering an opportunity, or grasping it and turn- 
ing it to their advantage. 

Everybody who is not a "has been " living in the memory of 

great deeds, accomplished (?) in a generation that is no more, 

possesses some sort of an ambition to excel. To most men that 

. ,„ , .. ambition takes on a vague, uncertain form, 

or an "iser" ^^ which some future success is desired, the 

nature of which is not quite certain ; the time 
not yet quite settled. Only one thing sure, that ultimate sue- 



117 

cess is wanted, and that life will not be at all complete without 
it. Most industrial men find themselves possessed of an 
ambition of this sort. It is a laudable ambition, certainly, 
but one thing should be remembered — success, to be real, must 
be practical, and to be practical must include some portion in 
the present. It is the present, therefore, 
■oresent that should be made to contribute — the pres- 

ent day which should register your advance. 
Are you better off in knowledge, experience and power to-day 
than you were yesterday? Has your percentage of collections 
improved this week? Is your issue larger than it was last week? 
Is your account in better shape? Those are the questions which 
you should ask yourself. If you can truthfully give an affirm- 
ative answer, then you are really living in the present, as you 
should do, and each day brings nearer another success, which 
some future "to-day" will hold in store for you. 



ii8 



SEASONS AND WEATHER 



It is a very noticeable fact that the successful men in the 

industrial field are those who make a good record during the 

first few months of the year. They commence early; they don't 

„ , wait until the fall and winter season for the 

Commence early , ^ ^ ^i_ • , • t^. • • -.. i 

bulk of their business. It is a grave mistake 

to do this. The spring and summer months are splendid indus- 
trial increase producers, and they should be made to return their 
full quota of the year's increase; then when the canvass com- 
mences for the close of the year's business you will be just so 
much better equipped. 

This is the season when the agent who is looking to find 
"any old excuse" for not producing results will tell you that 
"it's summer time; nothing doing; better not worry yourself 

about new business until fall," and the like. 
ine gooa o ^^ p^^^. ^^ attention to him, particularly if you 

are the "young man" in the business. There 
is business in the summer time, just as well as later in the year, 
if you will take the trouble to look for it. The man who wants 
business will always find it if he goes where business is, and 
that is in the homes and in the stores and factories — not on 
the street corners or hotel corridors. It's never difficult to 
find some excuse for not getting it, though a good excuse is 
harder to find than the business usually. Make up your mind 
that you are going to make the summer months produce just 
a certain number of new applications a week, and you'll find 
them, never fear, just as readily as in November. 

Enthusiasm at 92 in the shade seems a little incongruous, 
yet the best workers keep it up just the same. As a matter of 
fact, the summer is one of the best times of the year in which 

to talk about life insurance. It is the season 
Enthusiasm and ^ friends invite you to "sit on the 

the Hot Waves . ^ \ „ a • ■ ■ \u • 1 

front stoop and join m the social evening 

hour, with a glass of something cool and comforting to chase 



119 

dull care away. What better opportunity, when conversation 
wanes, than to lead the thoughts to the consideration of the 
j^ wonderful business of life insurance and 
Canvassinp- some of the absorbingly interesting details 

regarding the industrial end of it? Follow 
that up by a personal application to the needs of your auditor. 
It may take the place of some of the calls you have been obliged 
to miss in the daytime. 

And now what of these stormy days in which it is too rainy 
or muddy to do any straight canvassing, when you look out of 
the office window upon a street empty of traffic and a sidewalk 
free of the customary crowd except now and 
Wisdom then a solitary umbrella? Of course, com- 

mon sense would tell that these are not the 
days to make straight canvassing in, but the careful agent has 
prepared for just such days a list of prospects and back calls, 
selected with discrimination. These are people upon whom he 
can call and whom he will find as ready and glad to have some 
one break in upon the dreariness of the day even if the subject 
of conversation be life insurance. Such a Hst as this should be 
prepared from the material provided by the previous week's 
canvass, and if properly used, should prove a very prolific means 
of securing business on days too unpleasant to use in other 
ways. You can on these occasions make your calls a little 
longer than otherwise without fear of giving offense. 

You can't always canvass on rainy days, however. Strang- 
ers do not always care to have an insurance agent calling on 
those days ; but if you have first made the acquaintance of your 
. prospect and can call upon him or her as by 

Business previous appointment, in a back call or other- 

wise, you have laid the foundation of an 
opportunity which may prove very valuable when the rainy 
day comes around and you are wondering where to go to make 
business. Don't forget that on rainy days the woman of the 
. house who stays at home has probably found 

"dropping in" ^* ^^ ^^^^ ^ ^^^ ^^ ^^"^ have, and your call 
may serve to brighten tip a gloomy after- 
noon, even if you do talk business. Many of the best agents 



120 

claim that for this very reason they can do more business on a 
rainy day than a clear one. 

Did you ever think of the amount of time you have lost in 
complaining about rainy days? Of the times you have come 
back to the office discouraged because you thought it was too 

muddy and unpleasant to go around tracking 
Rainy iJay ^^ people's front stoops? Of the days you 

have started out with the best intentions, but 
have given up in the middle of the day because it rained? 
Well, if you haven't, you're a very exceptional man. Most of 
us have. When the rainy days come, remember that some of 
your policyholders will be home — just the time to see them. 
Just the time to collect those old arrears. Just the time to 
write up that ordinary they have been talking about so long. 

The debit is a splendid thing to get acquainted 

with^yoSr Dlwt ^'^^ °^ ^^^^^ ^^^^- Suppose you try it the 
next dull, rainy day that comes. Don't hang 
around the office. No business there. But go out on your 
debit, even if you don't want to do any new canvassing, and it 
will be a strange thing if you don't bring home something for 
your trouble. 

In the office it's the man who constantly watches the clock 
lest he may inadvertently overstep the hour of closing and 
work a few moments beyond the time required. In the field 
it's the man who works with his eye on his 
Value oi lime watch, so that he may not spend any more 
time in canvassing than his assistant 
demands of him. In either case it's fatal to progress, and no 
surer method can ever be employed to retard advancement in 
any business or profession. Don't be afraid of giving up your 
time to your business — it frequently demands evening work, and 
often that's the most fruitful. Throw yourself into it with 
enthusiasm and spirit — determined to obtain the results you 
are working for. Don't let the time you make use of enter 
into the question — it's ultimate success you're after — and she's 
a jealous mistress 

If you are an alive, wide-awake, up-to-date agent, you 
should never have any time on your hands — time that you 



121 



can't use, that is. It's a spare half hour that counts for success 
or failure in every line of business, as well 
The ^are ^g ^^ ^^j. q^^. Now, how are you going to 

Half-Hour prevent it; how so arrange that you can 

utilize those half-hours to advantage all the time? By just 
keeping your prospect book full. Be broad-minded enough 
to beHeve that success is coming to you just in the proportion 
in which you impress your own individuality and the merits 
of your company upon others — the greater the number of 
those others the greater the scope of your 
One Case in success. Remember the general agent who 

Twenty found by actual count that he insured every 

prospect in twenty. That was for ordinary, of course. Think 
where he would have been without persistence and a big book 
of prospects to work from. In industrial the proportion is 
by no means so large and the chances better. Get before the 
biggest public you can command. 

As an industrial agent your time is, in a sense, very much 
at your own disposal. That is to say, there is no one standing 
over you with a set of rules and a time card to which you are 
expected to rigidly adhere. If you waste 
All Hours Are ^-^^ ^^ one will know it— until the results of 
Business Hours ^^^^ ^^^^,^ ^^^^ ^^^ .^ ^^^^^ ^.^1 ^^ ^^ 

one to tell you when to stop your day's work but your own sense 
of duty. Success, however, demands that you give to your 
business as many hours a day as you would give to your own 
business if you had one. Be loyal to your company — do not 
divide your time and energies with any other business. Under 
no circumstances can you succeed if you do so, for only by the 
concentration of your powers is great success possible. Remem- 
ber that "this is the only business and all hours belong to it." 
There is probably no habit which has been more effectual 
in injuring the prospects of many an industrial agent who gave 
promise of complete success than that of unpunctuaUty. Every 
,, agent should make it a point to plan for him- 
Be " On Time ^^^^ where he shall commence his canvassing 
for the day, and then make it his inflexible rule to be at that 
particular house at the hour specified in the morning. At this 
time in the year it will frequently be convenient to call at 



122 



half-past seven, and at least not later than eight o'clock. This 
should certainly be done in the case of the first morning call on 
collection days. In making collections during the day care should 
be taken to maintain a certain schedule of time, so that regu- 
larity will prevail. For if you accustom Mrs. Smith to having you 
call for your weekly collection at ten o'clock 

S^f P^?^®^ on Tuesday, and fail to come until noon one 

Not Calhng , -^ ' ^ , ^, ^ ,, c -^u t, • 

week, you may find that Mrs. Smith, havmg 

waited for you and believing you not coming, has spent the 
money, and tells you that you will have to wait until next pay- 
day. Not a good excuse, perhaps, but that's the way the arrears 
begin, nevertheless. Promptness and regularity in all such 
matters will establish your reputation, and make you a gainer, 
financially, as well as in other directions. 

A scheme for getting business worked by an enterprising 
and successful young industrial worker deserves recording. 
In this plan the agent practically secures the co-operation of 

his policyholders. As the agent is collecting 
Getting_a^Line on^Q^ his debit he always makes it a point to 

find out whether any new families have moved 
into the vicinity. He gets as full particulars as possible, 
ascertains whether any of the policyholders are acquainted with 
the newcomers, and if so, secures through the acquaintance, a 

letter of introduction, or, better still, a 

Seemg the personal introduction, which places him 

Strangers f ,. , -, r • tt .1 

immediately upon a good footing. He then 

goes into the subject with the family at some length, tells them 
of the number of policyholders on his debit within the vicinity, 
explains the features of the system, and dwells upon its popu- 
larity among the neighbors. In this way he is sure to enlist the 
interest of the stranger, and eventually, if not at once, can, 
as a rule, secure his business. Of course, this is only a detail 
in a complete plan this agent has for securing business, but it 
is an important feature of the work, and one which for that 
reason should not be neglected. 



123 



SYSTEMATIZE YOUR BUSINESS 



System, system, system — it is as necessry to your success 

as assistant or agent as it is in any mercantile or professional 

career. System in looking after details so 

e va u that while none will be neglected too much 

valuable time will not be given them. System 

in canvassing to obtain the greatest results from each visit to 

the particular locality. System particularly in looking after 

"prospects." Every agent should have with him at all times, 

convenient for handy reference, a "prospect 
The "Prosoect ' r- ^ 

Book" book." Most of the companies furnish them 

to their agents, we believe, containing infor- 
mation as to name age and occupation of the prospect, amount 
of insurance already carried, etc., together with memoranda of 
all engagements. These should be kept strictly — the prospect 
should be informed that you propose to call upon him at the 

exact day and hour agreed upon and he 
ADDointments should be given to understand that you expect 

him to treat you with equal consideration. 
This principle, carried out, will create for you a reputation for 
promptness in fulfilling business engagements which will some 
time be very valuable to you in dealing with businesss men. 
Men of sound business principles and habits like to deal with 
other men similarly inclined and especially in matters financial. 
Here is where reputation is valuable to a man. 

There are a great many beginners who, when they see the 
multitude of details which must all be mastered in the business 
of industrial life insurance, are appalled at the prospect. And 

yet it is not difficult to master them. Nor 
How to Master {g {^ difficult to secure the results when you 
the Industrial . .• •- t^ • . i >^ • 

Details systematize it. For -instance, don t mix up 

canvassing and collecting. That doesn't 
mean that you should never take nor solicit an application 



124 

when on your collecting trips, but it does mean that you should 
spend the first part of the week in making your collections, 
and complete them as early as possible, so that you can send in 
your account at once and be ready to devote as much of the 
week as possible to an uninterrupted, diligent and faithful 
canvass for new business. No man who works on these lines 
and who concentrates his efforts at the particular point of attack 
will fail of success sooner or later, and the length of time 
depends entirely upon the amount of energy you throw into the 
work and the methods you employ in working. 

The agent should have a regular time for calling upon his 

policyholders each week. This time should be rigidly adhered 

to, and calls made promptly. If the money is not forthcoming, 

politely, but firmly, insist upon the payment 

on^ T^mf^^"^^*^^ ^"^^ ^^^^- ^ ^^^^^^ display of strength of 
character is often all that is needed to correct 
what otherwise might soon become a chronic case of "bad pay." 
Sometimes it may be a good thing to read to the delinquent 
policyholder the clause in the policies in which the arrangement 
for payment of premiums is contained. 

The majority of people, however, like a "hustler," and if 
they find that an agent regards his time as important — has 
none to waste, but is sure to call at such an hour of a certain 

day every week, it will only be a short time 
The World Likes . / - r, ■^^^, u ^ a a 

the Hustler before they will have books and money ready 

and waiting for him, so that he will not have 

to wait for policyholders to "hunt them up." Then, too, the 

day selected should be as early as possible in the week. In fact, 

as large a proportion' of the debit as possible should be collected 

during Monday, so that the rest of the week may be devoted 

to straight canvassing. 

Accuracy in making collections is essential. Mistakes 

should be carefully avoided in entering premiums collected 

from policyholders in the premium receipt book. A careless 

agent is apt to make much trouble in this 

Avoid Errors in ,• •• x u- 

•D , ^ . way — sometimes arousing a suspicion of his 

accuracy in the minds of policyholders, and 
subjecting him to an open criticism which will be very annoying 
to himself, and which reflects injuriously upon his superior 



125 

officers and the company. No agent can afford to be either 
careless or inaccurate. 

No agent should attempt to call on any policyholder to 
collect premiums without bringing his collection book with him. 
The amount collected should be entered immediately in the 

premium receipt book and then in the collec- 
Always Carry -^ion book as soon as payment is made. This 
Book ^°^^®*^*^^^ should be done in the presence of the pohcy- 

holder, so that the latter can see that the 
amount paid has been properly credited, and thus future dis- 
putes will be avoided. In this way he will create confidence 
in the minds of policyholders on his debit, and confidence begets 
business every time. 

There is a place for everything and for everybody in this 
world, except for the man who won't do his share of work. 
There is certainly no place for the shirker in industrial insurance. 

The man who tries to keep his position as 
th^ Shiriier^ agent or assistant by living off of his debit, 

or depending upon the services of his agents, 
will find that the avenues of promotion are closed to him, and 
even what present success he might have lasts but a short time. 
The world always yields to the man who works, and through 
constantly working onward with the goal in view of carrying 
through whatever you are undertaking you will soon gain that 
momentum which will bear you on to bigger things. Don't 
Tx. _ look so far ahead that you neglect the present. 

^ ^ Work for the present, and by working for the 

present thus mould your future along the lines of your ambition. 
It's well to aim high, but your present target is agency success. 
Not a superin tendency. Hit your target, don't shoot over it. 
Now and then you will hear an especially attractive story of 
some highly successful life insurance canvasser who is writing 
his hundreds of thousands every year, and, no doubt, have 

envied the man what you have termed his 

An "Eighteen- "luck" or his inborn "genius" for obtaining 

•x^j. applications. Believe not a word of it! The 

big writer is, first, last and always the big 
worker. There is no genius for writing life insurance. Some 



126 

men may be brighter than others, it is true, but the business 

comes not to the bright ones. At least, not because they are 

bright. It comes to the earnest, steady, determined ones — 

the men who put a full day's work into a day, who are not 

TVi n » "W t ^^^^i^ o^ ^ proposition because it entails some 

work, but who welcome the work because of 

the training and development it brings. After all, have you 

ever considered a very important fact, that the biggest good 

which comes from any work is not the accomplishment of the 

work itself, but the self development it gives? Yet that is so. 

Ask any authority upon physical training if that is not the case 

in his domain. 

Between the assistant and his agents there is a community 

of interest and there should be a perfect harmony of purpose 

and practical co-operation. Don't get the idea that your 

_,_ , ^ ,, assistant is "down on you" and that you 

Work together . ^ ^ ^ ^ -u 

can t do your work properly because he 

doesn't give you proper assistance, with the strongest evidence 
that this is the case, because you must remember that he has 
every reason to be very attentive to your interests. His suc- 
cess depends upon yours. He has every incentive to advance 
your prospects and your productive power, for in doing this he 
is advancing his own interests. Only by the fullest co-opera- 
tion with each other can agent and assistant be successful, 
and the sooner this is made a part of your code the sooner suc- 
cess will come to you. 

The writer happened to be in the office of a local super- 
intendent the other day when a matter came up involving a 
good deal of thought and careful work, and necessitating the 
exercise of considerable tact in its accom- 
plishment. "Assistant Blank," said the super- 
intendent, "is the very man to do this properly. If I have 
anything which requires careful, thorough handling, he is the 
man I always select." What a reputation to have! Out of a 
staff of sixty to eighty men he was the one selected, because he 
was thorough. And he will be the one selected right along 
until he is selected by the company to fill a vacant superinten- 
dency somewhere, for that is the kind of men they are looking 
for constantly — men who will be thorough — of whom the super- 



127 

intendent is sure, not part of the time, but all the time. Strive 
to have that reputation. Be thorough in everything you under- 
take, whether it be a collection or an inspection, or whatever 
it may chance to be, so that your superintendent may learn to 
rely absolutely upon you. It pays 

The industrial business is a business made up of small 

things, which in the aggregate amount to big things — but each 

single thing, be it a five-cent policy or what, while a small thing, 

-_.... is the one important thing to the person who 

Little Nothinp-s '^ behind it. Carefulness and watchfulness 

of his interests in that case means his trust 
and confidence, his influence and power of recommendation 
exerted in your behalf. No man on your books but has, at 
least, one friend — probably many. There is no reason why, 
if you treat him right, that friend should not be yours, too. 
Hence, there is not one case of the many on your debit in 
which politeness, absolute honesty of purpose and action, and 
perfectly fair treatment will not be a paying investment, and 
will bring you some day a full return. 

Tact has been variously defined. If you possess it, it is not 
at all important that you should know how to define it. It is 
knowing how long to talk, also knowing when to stop talking. 
fp . It is knowing what to say to Brown's wife, 

who is in favor of life insurance, and to 
Brown who doesn't believe in it. It is the ability to make him 
look at the question from your point of view without telling 
him he is doing so. It is securing his application after he has 
told you he has no use for insurance companies. Tact is 
necessary. It usually comes with experience, after a man 
finds that he must possess it to succeed, and it may be developed 
if you haven't got it. 

I was sitting in the office of a leading industrial superinten- 
dent not long ago when a successful-looking, rather loudly 
dressed individual came in, sat down in the chair nearest his 

desk and began to talk. He was dissatisfied 
Two Visitors — about something — that was apparent — ^he 
Anotner kicked and complained and argued until I 

wondered when the superintendent would lose 
his patience. The latter treated him very coldly, I observed, 



128 

granted none of his requests, and the man left angry and dis- 
concerted. He had no sooner closed the door after him with a 
bang when it was opened quietly by a small but determined- 
looking man in black who spoke earnestly and respectfully to 
the superintendent, evidently asking for advice and counsel, 
which I could see the latter was very cheerfully and gladly 

giving. "I'm always glad when P comes in," said the 

superintendent afterward, "he is such a sound, earnest, intelli- 
gent man, new to the business, but with the qualifications of a 
very successful agent. He comes to me frequently for advice, 
which he invariably follows, and he is already growing to be one 
of the leaders of our district. The first man is a great trial. 
He was one of the most successful agents we had here, but it 
turned his head, and his time now, while in the office, is spent 
in complaints, kicks and criticisms. I'm nearly done with him, 
for his days of usefulness are nearly over if he doesn't change 
his tactics." Which man was the welcome visitor? Which 
will be the most successful eventually? Which is the super- 
intendent more likely to help? Which one will get the biggest 
special salary voucher? Which is more likely to receive pro- 
motion first? 

One of the mistakes frequently made by beginners in this 

business lies in the belief that so long as the special salary 

comes, it doesn't make much difference whether it comes all in 

one week of the month, and none in the others, 

bpecia^alary ^^ ^^ ^^^ q^j^^j. ^a,y. Experience has shown 

this to be a great mistake. Every agent 
should so arrange his canvassing that a fair amount of new 
business will be shown each week, instead of a large amount 
during one week and none the next. The continuance of 
special salary, week after week, in fair amount, is what event- 
ually works out to the agent's advantage. The business lasts 
longer, and agent and company are better satisfied when they 
see the results coming in with regularity. System in canvassing 
will do much toward bringing about this result. Collecting 
money and canvassing afternoons or calling on a certain definite 
number of families every day — anything, in fact, which will 
help to bring about regularity in business results. 



129 



STARTING RIGHT 



A good start in any business or profession is half the battle 
of success. In industrial insurance the good start implies 
proper instruction and initiation by assistant superintendents. 

Many a man who might have been a successful 
Ti^rn nded ^ industrial man has been spoiled by improper 

or incomplete instruction. The first thing 
which should be done by the assistant instructing the new 
agent, after the main details of the business have been mas- 
tered, should be in connection with canvassing. Canvassing to 
the beginner is sure to be a difficulty of seemingly alarming 
proportions. The idea of collecting is, perhaps, attractive, the 
care of the necessary details is not irksome, btit the necessity 
for straight canvassing usually sinks deep into the spirit of 
the new agent and he will be apt to do anything to get out of it. 
When " Mile- a- Minute Murphy" made his famous record on 
the Long Island Railroad, it will be remembered that he was 
paced by a railroad train for the entire distance. He set for 
^, ^ himself a task to be accomplished and a 

mark to guide him in its accomplishment. 
That mark was, in his case, a railroad train running at the rate 
of sixty miles an hour. While never for an instant forgetting 
the ultimate purpose of his ride, he kept close to his pacer, the 

mark which he had set for himself. In can- 
betting a mark vassing for industrial insurance, pace your- 
for achievement i r tr i , • ■, ■ 

self. Make up a certain task — a certain 

amount which you must obtain each day. While some pos- 
sessing remarkable ability may far exceed this limit, still a mark 
of one application a day is a good one if you will strictly live 
y .. up to it. Not just two applications on Mon- 

dav d^y> but at least one every day. This forced 

regularity cannot but be very beneficial. 
Try it and you will be surprised to find how much business you 



130 

will secure each week, and how quickly your debit will grow — 
one application every day, at least. Can you do better than 
this? Good ;^ but at least do as well. 

Don't proceed upon the assumption that after a policy has 

once been landed high and dry in your debit that it is solid, 

and that you can neglect it and devote all your attention to 

new business. Every policyholder, no matter 

S^Bu^nes^s^^^ ^°^ ^^^^^' ^®^^^' ^^^ should be encouraged in 
feeling, that he is a part of the company which 
issues it, and that he is entitled to all the consideration and 
attention that is coming to him. Some agents will visit a house, 
collect the premiums and walk out without a word to the 
people who have paid — at least, without a word on business — 
and this will happen week after week. How do you expect 
good collections, small lapses and some amount of new business 
written on debit when this is the practice ? Not a word about 
the latest case of dividends or claims paid in that locality or 
some person of local prominence recently 

eeping insured, or one of the hundred and one 

pot boiling" ' 

things which interest the policyholder and 

bind him to the company which has issued him his policy. 
Bear this in mind, sociability and good temper, without garrulity 
or freedom, and coupled with an eye to business every time, 
will help to get and keep more business than you know — unless 
you're trying it. 

As a life insurance man it is well for you to pay as much 

attention as you can to the social side of your life. Not that 

you should depend upon your society to contribute directly to 

your business, but there is a way to enter 

icqualntJn^e^ship ^^^° ^^^ personal and social life of your 
patrons, so that you will be familiar with 
their circumstances and conditions — can tell about how much 
they are worth; how much insurance they carry, and how much 
more they can afford to carry. How many children are in the 
family, and their ages if insurable. All these little details are 
of importance when it comes to the question of life insurance. 
An extended social acquaintanceship will not hurt you either, 
any more than it does the doctor, the lawyer or other pro- 
fessional man whose capital is his time and energy. 



131 

The old adage, "The best advertisement is a pleased cus- 
tomer," is all right, as far as it goes, but it should be remembered 
that though the pleased customer raay wear a smile of content- 
ment a half a block wide, unless he brings it 

Facts alone to public notice, its value as an advertising 

SLT& not 

Advertisements ^^^^^^ i^ nil. The fact is that if you have 

secured a pleased customer by the prompt 
payment of a claim or a dividend, you want to take that man 
gently by the hand and lead him out to tell his friends about it. 
It is not the existence of news regarding a fact, but the popular 
dissemination of that news which constitutes advertising. Get 
,. . an acknowledgment of the claim or dividend 

alone-" payment, some practical and appropriate 

testimonial to the satisfaction which exists, 
and then use it thoroughly and efficiently in your canvassing 
wherever that name is known and has weight. In that way 
you can make the pleased customer become a real help and 
assistance to you in your business, and his name and patronage 
can be used as a talisman to open many doors which otherwise 
might be opened with difficulty. 

Perhaps that is what you thought when you saw one of 
your fellow-workers elevated the other day to the important 
position of assistant superintendent, and perhaps, too, you 
Promotion said, "Well, that's just his luck " — or, "Jones 

Accidents of always was a favorite with the superinten- 

Fortune dent." Well, perhaps he was, but do you 

know what made him a favorite? He was a worker first of all 
— he was a successful canvasser — he knew and obeyed the rules 
of the company regarding lapses and arrears — he took pains 
with his accounts — he had few mistakes — ^his collections were 
«T f h' T V" ^P ^° ^^^ standard week after week, his 

special salary account was heavy — ^his assist- 
ant never had any trouble in inspecting his debit. In short, 
he was a careful, hard-working, conscientious, painstaking 
agent, who devoted himself to his business, and was successful, 
and that is the reason he was a favorite in the superintendent's 
office, and why he was promoted when the opportunity came. 
The same opportunity will come to you. Will your superinten- 



132 

dent be able to recommend you for promotion for the same 
reasons as he did the other? 

It is always timely to urge upon every agent and assistant 
the necessity for preparation, for the managers of your company 
are constantly looking around for competent men to fill new 

assistancies and superin tendencies, to extend 
for Promotion territory, to cover more thoroughly territory 

already opened. Good men are in great 
demand. Are you considered a "good man"? It's your own 
fault if you are not, and if so you don't want to lose any time, 
but just set to and work. It will be your own fault, indeed, if 
your head fails to stick up above the surface. The opportunities 
are here — plenty of them. Those who know see scores of 
opportunities for promotion every day, but not enough men to 
take advantage of them. Are you going to be one? If so, 
this is the time to commence. The successful agent of to-day 
is he who spent yesterday in preparation. The wise agent of 
to-day is making himself familiar with all manner of things 
which pertain to his business; he is studying up the forms and 
policies of his company and of competing companies; he is, in 
fact, spending all his time in preparing himself for the work of 
to-morrow. And there is really no end to it. All work of to-day 
is, and should be, preparation for the work of to-morrow, if 
you wish to make it so, and every application you take, or 
every conversation you have on the subject of insurance should 
make it easier to sell the next. 

This is one of the very few lines of business in which favo- 
ritism, acquaintanceship, "pull" or influence has no perma- 
nent place. Here promotion depends upon two things, and 

these only — character and record. This is 
Pull not "in it*' 

th P sh °^^ °^ *^^ very encouraging facts about the 

system of industrial insurance — it is too 
important, and the interests involved are too vital to be intrusted 
to the care of the unsteady or the inexperienced. You may be 
practically certain, therefore, that if your record warrants it 
.and you have no blemishes on your reputation, your advance- 
ment will be assured. The positions of superintendent and 
lassistant superintendent are never filled by those who have had 



133 

no experience, they are invariably taken from the ranks. This 
should be your case, too. Remember that the home office is 
constantly looking for chances to promote. Why not give them 
the opportunity? 



134 



PROMOTION OPEN TO ALL 



Very frequently some agent, and more frequently it is a new 
agent who doesn't know all of the ropes, sits down at the great 
long table in the superintendent's office, reserved for agents, 

and ruminates something in this wise: 
Hom^^Office^^ "What's the use of doing all this hustling? 

Here I work like the old fool I am to get 

my collections in early, just so I can have the rest of the week 

for what? Canvassing — well, did I get anything for it? Not 

much — only three ten-cent applications! What's the use of 

working so hard, anyhow? Nobody knows or cares about me, 

or what I do — way off here in this little one-horse town," etc., 

etc., etc., "ad infinitum, ad nauseam." No greater mistake 

could be made, and yet it is one which new men, particularly, 

and older men, too, sometimes, sorry to say, are apt to make, 

in thinking that their efforts are not known and their endeavors 

to succeed are not, therefore, appreciated in the big home 

office, which they, perhaps, have never seen, and which seems 

^, _ . _- so far away from what may be the somewhat 
The Eye IS on You ,. .^ . r^i.- ^^ t^ 

limited scene of their own efforts. J^or no 

matter what or who or where you are, the home office has its 

eye on you, and just as personally as though everything you 

did and said almost were reported to them individually. 

This is done by means of the very complex organization — 

the field and home office whose interests and dealings are so 

interlaced with each other that each is a part of the other and 

_,,, ^ ^. . materially affects it. Now in the home office 

What this means , , , , . . . 

are clerks whose business it is, as you may 

know, to scan closely, from week to week, the records of each 

individual agent in the field, and from this study of accounts, 



135 

records, applications, reports from him and reports concerning 

him, they are enabled to formulate very accurate knowledge 

indeed, not only of the results you are accomphshing, but of 

your very ability in every direction, and of your personal 

character and habits. Thus they are enabled to know definitely, 

from time to time, who is worthy of promotion, who is entitled 

to better position and wider responsibilities and broader scope 

for action. And this is true of each agent, no matter how 

humble or how remote. He has an individual account at the 

home office in which all things are recorded; he is treated as an 

individual and not as a cog in a big machine alone. Thus does 

the industrial agent obtain an advantage even over his brother 

— the ordinary canvasser. No wonder that the field is so full 

of active, live, energetic young business men, who find this 

occupation both profitable and congenial. 

Resolute Purpose seems to accomplish about everything 

worth accomplishing in this world, for when it comes right 

down to practical life, it is the man who has the will who always 

finds the way. It is said of General Grant, 

The Will and rather, he says it of himself, that on his 

the Way ^ . *^ , 

first campaign as a young commander, 

he was attempting to find a certain opposing force, but feared 
to come upon them, lest the results might be disastrous. He 
learned after awhile that while he had been chasing his opponent 
with fear and trembling in his heart, the latter, with more fear, 
had been running away — and he then began to appreciate that 
"although he might have been afraid, the other fellow was a 
heap sight more scared of him." So it is with the resolute man. 
He may be full of fear and misgivings and doubts, but the 
resolute courage dominates — pervades — in such a way that 
the world doesn't know the fear, but only 
"P^ld Ft" recognizes the determination and the resolu- 

tion and rewards them. In fact, as a rule 
a little resolution on your part will likely make the other fellow 
run away — it gives him a bad case of "cold feet," for he realizes 
that he has a fight on his hands, and the majority of the world 
are not fighters. 

The question is often asked, "What is the most valuable 
trait of character to win success in life insurance?" Well, 



136 

that's a pretty hard one, because there are so many features 
which contribute to a man's success; but 
They Don't Side "by far the most important, perhaps, is the. 
Express Trains Quality of directness — the singleness of pur- 
pose which permits no interruptions nor dis- 
turbing influences to interfere with the one purpose — to secure 
an application for insurance. Such men can't be side-tracked 
— they know what they want and are determined to get it, and 
they never give up until they do get it. That is the kind of 
character which wins the battle every time where the insurance 
agent is concerned. Don't allow anything to distract you from 
the object of your visit, which is first, last and always to write 
insurance. Particularly should this be remembered when can- 
vassing in families — it is only the man with the single purpose 
who wins. 

"The worst kind of vice," says somebody, "is advice." 
He must have meant that officiousness which insists upon putting 
its hand into other people's plans and attempting to color them 

--. , . , . continually by the bias of their own narrow- 

Vice and Advice , , %p. ,, ^. ..rr 

mmdedness. The old sporting maxim, If 

you have a good thing, keep it to yourself," had a very good 
foundation in wisdom. A "good thing" ceases to be a good 
thing when everybody knows of it. Not because the thing itself 
is changed, but because another person is sure to color and in- 
fluence your plans more or less, when, probably, your peculiar 
method of viewing them and acting upon them was the chief 
reason for their success. Therefore do not talk over all your 
plans of campaigning with other agents. Act upon them your- 
self, and then talk about the results, if there are any results. 
If there have been no results none knows of it but yourself. 
Loquaciousness gains nothing for itself but a bad reputation. 
An insurance agent, they say, should be a "good talker." So 
he should, but he should be a "good" talker, not a long talker — 
a talker whose talk is to the purpose — whose remarks carry 
weight because they have something in them worth remember- 
ing. In that sense he is indeed a good talker — the proper 
insurance agent — and one whose words are valued because they 
are worth something; not regarded with indifference because 
they are too cheap and worthless. 



137 

When in trouble, when times seem to be hard with you, 

and you seem to be making little headway, don't consult some 

ex-agent, who, because of laziness or inabiUty, has been unable 

to make a living in the industrial business, 

Headqi^"r*s° ^"^ ^h°' "^e every "calamity howler," 

is bound to be in evidence on just such 
occasions, but consult your assistant or superintendent, some- 
one who has had experience in the business and who has been 
successful in it. His advice will be much more likely to help 
you over the difficulty than that of the man who failed. 
Follow the successful men, not the failures. 

After knowledge, persistence. Make up your mind that you 
will secure the application that you are after, that you will not 
come away without it, that you will let nothing discourage you, 

but that only one thing will make you give 
last^n?lv^At\t"" ^P *^^ chase, and that is the signature on the 

dotted line. Be persistent in canvassing for 
life insurance. Make up your mind to write the application, 
and don't "change your mind" until you have done it. 

Pertinacity is a very different thing from pugnacity, and 
people admire and respect it more. You all know the story of 
the industrial agent who, driven from the front door by the 
^ p. _ angry matron, came arotmd immediately to 

" the back door, and met her coming back 
brandishing her victorious broom in the air, and whose perti- 
nacity was rewarded, as it deserved to be, by an application. 
True or not, and no doubt it is true, it tells the lesson — that as 
long as a person is insurable and is financially able to pay the 
premiums on a policy you should not give up the case as a lost 
one. Some time or other he is bound to be brought into the fold 
if you keep after him long enough. 

There is always a fascinating quality about the man who 
never knows when he's defeated — who never gives up under any 
circumstances to defeat or despair. His energy is an inspiration 

and incentive to others. His very belief in 

Never Knew j^ig own success is the surest sign in the world 
When He Was 

Licked" ^''^^^ ^* ^^ coming to him. He never gives 

up because he recognizes in what others would 

call "failure" only another incident which will serve to teach 



138 

him a few lessons. He profits from his own experience and 
never commits the same mistake a second time. How can 
you keep a man hke that down? You can't when he's in the 
life insurance business — ^his influence is felt at once and con- 
tinually in the district in which he is placed and, as it happens, 
he doesn't remain unknown to fortune or to fame for long. 
There are plenty of places for men of that calibre. 

The only business that pays is unquestionably the business 
that stays, and the man who writes up a great quantity of new 
business without giving thought to its quality is building up an 
edifice without a proper foundation. The 
O alitv' ^^ ^' ^^^stion which every agent should ask him- 
self is "how much of the business I am now 
putting on the books will survive the first year ? ' ' Remember 
the profit to agent, company and the policyholder all comes as a 
result of longevity of business. Business "getters" who are 
not at the same time business "builders" are not a profitable 
asset in any district or assistancy. The superintendent or 
assistant who has the best interests of his company at heart and 
his own permanent success will take every measure necessary 
to make sure that the business produced by his agents is of the 
required quality. Permanence in business means permanence in 
income, and the agent who understands this never complains 
about "non-results." 



^K 



139 



OPPORTUNITY FOR DEVELOPMENT 



This is a great and far-reaching business, and one of the 
chief merits which it possesses is that the opportunities it presents 
for development are practically limitless. At least they are 

limited only by the individual capacity and 
tt-D- >> merit of the agent, assistant or superintendent. 

This being so, how important it is that every 
man should learn, as soon as he can, how best to develop those 
abilities, so that he may rank, not with the small and unpro- 
ductive men, but among the biggest, broadest, most successful 
men in the business. And how is this going to be accomplished? 
Well, in a dozen different ways, but, first of all, by living the 
broadest kind of life which your conditions permit, and even a 
little broader than you at first feel able to stand, possibly. 
Later on will come the strength and ability that you need to 
meet "big" men on their own footing, and meeting them, to 
make business acquaintances and friendships which will event- 
ually prove of great value to you. 

You know there are two ways of paying your debts and of 
becoming wealthy. One is to reduce your expenditures, the 
other to increase income. The difficulty with the first plan is 

this — you can reduce and reduce again, can 
iwo ways 01 ssi^e an expense here and another there, 

but after all there will surely come a time 
when your reductions must be brought to an end, and then 
where are you? Your capacity for accumulation is necessarily 
limited to the amount you have thus saved; it is not elastic. 
You can't extend it very much, and you have the discomfort and 
privation of having to do without a great many things 
which add pleasure and comfort to life. After all, this way 
doesn't appear to possess very much that is attractive, and 
while an economical course is urged for every industrial worker, 
it should not be pushed to the extreme of penury or stinginess. 



140 

Increasing your income is a problem, and yet not so much of 
a problem as it appears while you are engaged in a business in 
which your progress all depends upon yourself. Your ability 

to write ordinary, for example, depends 
increasing i our jg^j-ggiy -^pon the kind of friends you have been 

making, whether they have been business 
men or laborers, for no matter how many of the poorer classes 
are on your industrial book, you must remember that very little 
ordinary will come from them. It is from the more well-to-do, 
the prosperous and prospering business men, clerks, mechanics 
and better class of workmen. Choose your friends, therefore, 
from the class in which you are likely to transact ordinary 
business. Live up to your opportunities, broaden yourself out 
and make your efforts count in a large way instead of a small 
way, and your income will follow. 

In the industrial field every opportunity in the world is 
given a man to develop all that he has in him worth cultivating. 
Not only is the new agent given every advantage which comes 

from careful supervision, but the companies 
Thorough Tram- -j^g-g^ ^pQj^ ^-^^ ^^^^ thorough training of new 

men by both assistant and superintendent. 
In fact, so pronounced is this provision that if a new agent should 
complain to his home office that he was not receiving an adequate 
training in the principles and practices of the business, or if an 
agent claims that his failure has been due to insufficient training, 
from assistant or superintendent, these claims are made the 
subject of rigid inquiry, and, if substantiated, the companies, 
method of showing their displeasure with the delinquent field 
officer is prompt and vigorous. With the existence of this sort 
of spirit you can see why it is that new men are encouraged to 
take the ardent hold of the business which they do, and that 
their ambition is stimulated and enterprise awakened by the 
knowledge that, at last, they have found an occupation in 
which success is never a matter of luck, but purely a measure 
of personal merit and applied energy. No wonder the business 
of industrial life insurance is bringing in new recruits every week ! 
There is an inspiration in the example of the man who is 
never discouraged, whom defeat cannot master, failure dis- 



141 

hearten nor obstacles deter. No matter where circumstance 
throws him, up again he jumps with a bound, 

Hearted ^^^^^^^ ^^^^^ *° ^^^^ ^^^ battle anew, and with 
fresh zeal to win success from adverse fortune. 
Don't get discouraged. Be not of the "chicken hearted." 
Is your increase hard to get? Canvass one hour more a day — 
are the lapses heavy? — keep your business in force by high 
collections. Does promotion seem slow in coming? — perhaps 
you have not yet made the record that shall entitle you to 
promotion. Rest assured that as soon as you do, you will hear 
from your home office, which is too anxious to obtain good 
men to neglect you, if your record is deserving of attention. 
Therefore, do not let any of these things discourage you, or 
make you desire to leave the business, though it may not so far 
have proven profitable. There is plenty of gold in the mine 
if you will learn the art of digging. 

Life teems with opportunity. The industrial field is full of 
it. No occupation ever possessed greater opportunities nor 
more of them. # Every new policyholder secured is an oppor- 
tunity for scores of fothers. It is not oppor- 
Every Policy- tunity that men lack, but the faculty of seeing 
less^Ch^n ^f ^" ^^ ^^^^ ^* comes, and the quick perception to 
Prospects grasp it and turn it to account. You never 

hear the successful agent complaining about 
lack of opportunity — he will tell you of many chances you have 
missed, and a peculiar thing, too, it is, that the same oppor- 
tunity never comes twice. Something like it, perhaps another 
just as good, but not the same. That never comes again — 
that is why it is so important to utilize it to the best advantage 
when it does come. The time when that wealthy mill owner 
was ready to sign the application, and you found you had no 
application blank in your pocket, out you went to get one, but 
when you came back his office was closed, and he had gone — 
and the next time you found he had gone on a long trip — and 
was not expected to return for two weeks. And at the end of 
two weeks how differently he received you. No more the glad 
hand of welcome — the friendly smile and confidential tone. 
Another matter is engrossing his attention now, and life insur- 



142 

ance — well. It's a sad picture, isn't it? Label it the "lost 

opportunity " — but avoid it in your own case by being prepared 

for all emergencies. 

What the other man does, is or wants to be is not of any 

vital importance to you. The important thing is, what are you 

doing? If you are waiting for anything to turn up, through 

which you are going to have a successful 

Turning Things j., remember Garfield's remark that 

Up 

"Things don't turn up in this world unless 

somebody turns them up." If you expect anything to turn up 
which will bring in profitable results to you the initial force 
must proceed from yourself, else there will be no turning up, 
we fear, m your neighborhood. Don't look too much at the 
other man, therefore, Study your own debit. Work out your 
own methods — remember the great principles of success in an 
industrial agency are increase, low lapses and high collections — 
work these out for yourself, and if you are successful in this 
respect, the other man will not worry you very much. 

In canvassing it often requires nice judgment to discrim- 
inate between the various excuses offered for not insuring — 
to detect the real from the false — the excuse which has reason 

back of it, and the excuse which is merely 
^ intended to gain time. With the latter 

persist in your canvass and your pressure to immediate action. 
With genuine excuses of little time, etc. — wait for a more favor- 
able time, and your tact and delicacy will no doubt be appre- 
ciated. 

A successful agent was asked, some time ago, whether he 
did not find that his calling opened many opportunities for 
making money which would not ordinarily come to the usual 

business. "No," he answered. "If a man 
d H'^ L^^st ^ ^^^ write life insurance and will only stick 

to his business the opportunities for making 
money in that way are so large that no man need go outside of 
his business to find them." It is another example of the shoe- 
maker sticking to his last. If you can write business, and there 
is no reason why you should not, the opportunities for success 
lie right in your own hand. Stick to it, don't dissipate your 
energies — the man who scatters is lost. Concentrate your 



143 

entire work upon the business you have in hand, whether it 
be industrial or ordinary, and the results will soon be evident. 
Somebody has said that the great advantage of American 
life lay in the fact that no limit was placed upon progression. 
For example, when one is created a "baron" in England it 
exalts him but a step — he is immediately 
No Limit to classified and labeled and placed upon his 

Endeavor particular shelf — a little better than a com- 

moner; not so good as an earl or duke. But 
here, when we say "American citizen" we have said all. It 
embraces the very greatest heights to which one can climb. 
Just so when we say "successful American business man." 
We can give no higher encomium from a practical and worldly 
viewpoint. That is in the power of every industrial worker to 
become. He is engaged in a business the possibilities of which 
know no limits, whose field is boundless, whose opportunities 
have not begun to be exhausted. What an opening for ambitious 
and energetic young men, and how many there are who are 
availing themselves of it. 

Once in a while, but very seldom now, an agent comes for- 
ward with the proposition which he believes to be unique, that 
the field is smaller now than it used to be, that competition 
has killed all profit, that everybody worth 
The Calamity insuring is insured, that if he had only been 
ow er ear y ^^ ^-^^ business years ago, and so on. What 
a tale of woe it is! Why, the chances for 
the industrial worker were never so great in the United States 
as they are at present. The increase in population in the last 
twenty-five years has been three times the increase in insurance 
policies during the same time. It is ten times easier to sell 
industrial insurance now than it was fifteen years ago, as any 
old insurance man will tell you. The more liberal policy, the 
extended knowledge of the system, the original and enter- 
prising methods adopted by the companies to advertise the 
business, all help the agent infinitely, and he may well be 
grateful that the paths have been opened by the pioneers, 
years ago, and that he is living and working in the business 
now instead of in that time not a quarter century since, 



144 

when prejudice and distrust had to be overcome, and industrial 
insurance was largely a matter of experiment. 

If every man in the employ of the industrial insurance 
companies were each and every week during the year to bring 
in a moderate amount of new business, there would be written, 
without any pyrotechnics or loud acclaim. 
The Non-Pro- an. amount of Hfe insurance which would 
^^The^wheef^ simply astonish the whole world of under- 
writers. The bane of the business is the 
non-producer, he is the drag on the wheel, the man who pulls 
down the district in every laudable ambition, and, worse than 
all, whose influence is seldom anything else but demoralizing 
to the rest of the staff who are brought into contact with him. 
For that reason, the thing for the superintendent or assistant 
to do is to devote his energies to that non-producer, until he is 
either made a good productive agent, or else drummed out of 
the service. And there are plenty of them. Every district 
has one or more, usually more; their name is legion, but the 
superintendent or assistant can point at them all right, and he 
is the man to fix right before you can expect to have complete 
success in your district, no matter how many good workers 
you have. 

The organization of a great life insurance company is much 
like a great engine. Each part has its proper place and function, 
and it must be in its place and properly perform that function 
to obtain success. There is no other success 
The great than this — to do the work, whatever it naay 

Mechanism of a ^ ^^^ ^^^^ ^ ^^^ ^.^^^ ^-^^ ^^^^ result. 
Life Conipany ' "^ 

So when each part works according to the 

plan of the builder, there is success for the organization as a 
whole, and it will make a success of its work, whatever that may 
be. With this very importantf difference, however, that with 
the machine, the part once fashioned cannot be changed; it 
remains in the same position, performing the function for which 
it was designed. In the organization, there is progression, the 
development of one part into a higher, more important! one ; 
the progression from a primary position to an eminent one, all 
of which goes to show that if you are fortunate enough to be 



145 

connected with one of the big industrial organizations be glad 
of it, and set all your energies to that development which makes 
for progression, and that demonstration of your ability which 
is sure of its reward. 

The question is often asked whether an industrial agent or 
assistant has the time to spare to enter into local poHtics. 
Whether it is, in fact, advisable for him to attempt to take any 

active part in political affairs. Of course 
Getting into ^j^^^^ -g ^^ question whatever that any occu- 

Pohtics pations which interfere with the performance 

of the regular duties connected with the industrial business 
should be avoided. For this reason, of course, it would be 
improper for him to attempt to occupy any pubHc office which 
would take up time which should be devoted to his business. 
On the other hand, it is certainly very proper, indeed, that he 
should take some interest, more or less active, in the poUtical 
affairs of his district and county, and use his influence con- 
tinually in the cause of good government. Then, too, the 
acquaintanceship and reputation coming from a known credit- 
able position on public affairs is frequently of great value to 
the industrial worker. On the whole, it would seem to be wise 
to say, "Take just as active a part in poHtical hfe as your time 
and the best interests of your business will allow, but taking 
care not to make political enmities which may reflect upon your 
success in your chosen profession." 

Do you know what the trouble is with a. great many agents 
who attempt to distribute the hterature supphed by their 
companies? They haven't read it themselves, are not famiUar 

with it, and cannot talk with any certainty or 
Read your own conviction. It is not enough to leave the 
literature literature in the house; it should be properly 

marked at the paragraph you wish read, and it should be 
supplemented by a few convincing but brief remarks of an 
explanatory character, so that you make sure that your pros- 
pect is going to read and understand what you want him to. 
The correct use of Hterature can be made very effectual, but in 
no way can money and energy be more easily wasted. Use the 
literature you have intelHgently and carefully, yet literally, and 
it will help you to results. 



146 

Do you fully realize what it is that constitutes the difference 
between clerks and business men? Now the latter may be a 
salaried man just as the clerk is, for the difference lies not so 

much in their work or the method of compen- 
vs^^Cle^k sation as it does in their respective methods 

of self-conduct. The clerk does the line of 
work mapped out for him by another. He may do it well, but 
the business man makes it his point to see, not only that the 
work itself is done well, but that the enterprise, so far as his 
connection with it goes, is of a "paying" nature. That is, he 
concerns himself with the problem of making his end of the 
business a profitable or dividend-paying end. That is what 
the industrial man, be he agent, assistant or superintendent, 
should do. Consider the problem of making your agency, for 
instance, a profitable one for the company, for just to the extent 
that you do this you make it a profitable one for yourself. 
Make your agency — your business — make it a profitable busi- 
ness for the company as you conduct it, and the result will be 
not only increased remuneration and material success, but the 
creation of a dignity and substantiality which will inevitably 
place you upon a higher plane. 

Have you ever noticed that, taking the world as you find it, 
the successful man is the good natured, genial man? "Oh, 
well," you say, "it's easy enough to be good natured when 

you're successful. I'd be genial enough if I 
Success and making money!" Now, hold on a 

Good Nature r . ■, , 1 1 • 

minute, fnend; perhaps you are lookmg at 

this through the wrong end of the glass. If you will stop to 
think a minute — perhaps it is just because these men are good 
natured and pleasant that they become successful — it's so! 
"Laugh and the world laughs with you," but it hates a sour face. 
It leaves him distinctly alone and will have none of him. In our 
business the genial, pleasant-faced man has a far better chance 
than his gloomy or despondent brother. Don't let the world 
know by your face whether you are making a success of the busi- 
ness or not. They are not interested in your failures, but they 
will be influenced by your enthusiasm and energy ; they will be 
warmed and made friendly by your good nature and heartiness. 



147 

The air of success which the successful agent carries with him 
inspires and enthuses those with whom he deals. Let it be 
said: "I Hke to have that industrial agent, Mr. Blank, call — 
he Hghts up the house Hke a ray of sunshine and makes it 
pleasant for everybody." That makes for business now and 
to-morrow; therefore, though your pocket be empty, frown not, 
but smile that it may be presently filled. 

There probably never existed a business in which a more 
close and intimate knowledge of the people with whom the busi- 
ness is conducted, the public who are its patrons and policy- 
holders, is created with the staff of agents 

r«t^?*VS?^i^+-^«o and assistants who conduct it, than in that 
Lordial Relations , , . , • i i rr^, 

of insurance on the industrial plan, ihe 

weekly calls of the agent, the frequent visits of the assistant 
into the homes of the people, create an intimate relation between 
them which is decidedly unique, and it forms one of the strong- 
est powers for good and the extension of business interests 
which lie in the hands of industrial insurance managers. The 
agent and assistant knows personally and is well known by the 
individuals in the houses in which he canvasses. He is fre- 
quently called upon to give advice ; the benefit of his judgment 
or his deeper experience in business affairs is often asked. 
Right here lies an excellent opportunity. Every agent and 
assistant, particularly in the rural districts, has opportunity to 
be of much service in this and kindred ways to the families with 
whom he conducts his business. This does not mean that he 
should give up his valuable time for their service; but it does 
mean that he should establish and maintain the most friendly 
and cordial relations with them, for by doing this not only is 
he cementing the business which already exists, but paving the 
way for many new applications, with them or with their friends. 
One of the most valuable assets a man can have in this 
business is a reputation for good business methods and fair 
dealing. Of course, there has grown among people the general 

impression that the average life insurance 
Developing ..-^^ ^^ ^^^ ^^^ ^^^^ ^^^^^ ^le gets his 

old Business ,,_,.. T ^ a 

money. This impression you want to do 

all in your power to correct, and especially regarding such per- 



148 

sons as you may secure as ordinary policyholders. Let them 
feel that your interest extends far beyond the mere writing of the 
application and securing the premium. Call upon them now 
and then; keep track of their financial condition, etc. Per- 
haps they will be ready to increase their insurance before long. 
You want to be there on the spot when that time comes. In 
fact, show by your attention that you are treating them as a 
client, not as a "good thing,"and that your interests and theirs 
are identical — permanent and lasting. 

The industrial agent should learn to do what every salesman 
in any other line of business has to do in order to be successful 
— learn to "size-up" his customer. With the physician, a 
^ . jj wrong diagnosis means wrong treatment and 

the Case failure ; with the life insurance agent, a wrong 

diagnosis means a wrong line of argument 
followed also by failure. Hence the importance of starting 
right. In canvassing, for instance, it is very important to know 
whether to work toward ordinary, intermediate or industrial. 
To start wrong and then change your tactics means waste of 
time — sometimes waste of confidence and loss of interest on the 
part of the prospect. Try to gauge your man; take into con- 
sideration his earning capacity, his income, the demands upon 
it, his mode of living, personal habits, etc. Some men making 
salaries high enough to enable them to pay for ordinary policies 
have expensive personal habits, which make it highly improb- 
able that they could save, at first at least, even enough for a 
quarterly premium, and would find it easier to pay weekly. 
Nor, on the other hand, should you fail to see and to be the first 
one to see when one of your industrial prospects or policy- 
holders has gotten beyond the reach of industrial insurance, 
and should be landed for an ordinary. All this and more, 
enters into the matter and makes a sound judgment of human 
nature and an accurate "start" in canvassing along the right 
lines imperative to real success. 

It's no longer necessary to go through the streets with a 
lantern searching for an honest man — honest men are not rare 
— not honesty, but good judgment, tact, decision, reliability in 
details as well as in large affairs are the rarer virtues for which 



149 

business men often have to make long and sometimes futile 
search. The agent who is ambitious to 
The Field for improve his position and make himself 

T^Tment^°°^ ehgible for promotion should bear this in 
mind. Your superintendent does not ques- 
tion your honesty nearly as much as he does your judgment. 
Develop good judgment, a habit of looking carefully after all 
details, the faculty of being on hand promptly when due, 
promptitude and reliability. Every man is assumed to be 
honest until he has demonstrated the contrary, but no one is 
given credit for sound business sense until he has shown that 
he possesses it. 

Andrew Carnegie, it will be remembered, once chose as his 

possible epitaph a brief and pithy statement: "Here lies a man 

who knew how to get around him men much more clever than 

he." However much one may be inclined to 

Builamg up a question the accuracy of this statement, it is 

Competent Start ^^^ ^^ ^ -^ -.r,,^ ., 

undoubtedly true that much of Mr. Carnegie s 

success, as that of many other leaders in the various walks of 

life, was due to the admirable foresight, judgment and wisdom 

displayed in the selection of the men to help him carry out his 

plans. The superintendent and assistant, both necessarily 

leaders of men whose personal success or failure depends so 

largely upon the success or failure of the agents of their staffs, 

will do well to remember this. In building up your district or 

assistancy it is only of the best material that the permanent and 

enduring structure of good business results can be erected. 

The "floaters" and the failures and the castaways have no place 

in life insurance. Make up your staff of the best sort of men 

you can get. Be sure they are good business men — men of 

good habits and some experience in business — even though 

they be without experience in industrial insurance. If they 

have character and ability the details can shortly be mastered 

and you will have a staff made up of good material which will 

bring you permanent and satisfactory results. 



150 



INDIVIDUALITY AND DEVOTION 
TO BUSINESS 



Did you ever stop to think how little a single individual 
seems to be when you take him as a part of the great crowd, 
and yet how strongly, in that crowd, he can make his personality 

felt, if he is a person of strong individuality? 
The One Man » x- a j 

• ri. rT J So it is in the rush and whirl of business. 

m the Crowd 

The single personality is forgotten unless it is 

strong enough to command attention. The man who asserts 
himself and constantly places himself in the eye of his imme- 
diate public may or may not be the most polite of men, as the 
case may be — that is a matter of personality, too — but he is 
apt to be the most successful of men. In selling life insurance 
you don't want to be like the pieman who had to be invited by 
Simple Simon to display his wares. You should be the first to 
bring the matter up. Your individuality must be brought 
forcibly to the front every time or you will fail to command 
the attention which will be given to some other agent more 
enterprising than yourself. 

If a man has the right stuff in him it doesn't seem to make 
much difference where he is placed, he is bound to make a 
success — one place seems practically as good as another, pro- 
viding it is not beyond his natural limitations. 

T ^^T~ So the man who enters the field of industrial 

Location 

insurance, whether he be experienced or not 

— and the chances are that he is not — if he has the right stuff 

in him, will succeed. Wherever he is placed — the man and 

not the location make the story of defeat or victory. 

"Do unto others as they would do unto you, but do it first," 

is the adaptation. The world is full of bright men who have 

splendid ideas left for somebody else to carry out — fine plans 

for their own success — never started. The art of success lies, 



151 

not in the plan, but in action. Ideas are common, action 
giiided by thought so rare that when it comes 
The Art of people make way for it. Doing the work 

Action before somebody directs you to do it is usually 

the best way to command a higher grade of work. The man 
who thinks and acts is bound to be rewarded. Be beforehand 
in all your plans. If there are two of you intending to canvass 
Mr. Brown, be sure you are the one to get there first. It is this 
faculty of being the early bird which attracts attention, enUsts 
interest and, as a rule, brings down the game. Anyway you 
have the privilege of a first shot at it, and that's something. 

There must be something unusual about a business which 
seems to inspire all its workers, as does the industrial insurance 
business, with the constant desire to excel and get results. All 
the successful workers, that is, and this is 
Industrial true not only of those who are situated in 
Enthusiasm a ^-^^ ^^gy cities in which the home offices 
Success Factor ^^ ^^^.^ companies are situated, but as well 
in the small towns of the far West where men have seen and 
understood but little of the actual workings of the great busi- 
ness except upon the statements of others. This shows what 
tremendous factors in success enthusiasm and self-confidence 
are. The agent who enters the home or the office with a step 
of confidence, brimful of his subject, enthusiastic and cheery, 
though poUte and gentlemanly, always will, of course, have better 
success than the man who acts as though he were ashamed of his 
occupation, or professes that it is at the best a makeshift for 
something better. Don't go around giving the impression that 
you believe yourself to be, or want others to believe you to be, 
a Morgan or Rockefeller in disguise, but temporarily obliged 
to take up the business of industrial insurance owing to a super- 
abundance of capitahsts in the market. Be and act as 
though you were proud of your business. Don't be afraid 
to use the word "agent." Say, in effect, but in your own lan- 
guage: "My name is John Brown. I am agent for the 

Insurance Company, and I am proud of it." That sort of 
bearing will create confidence and bring more business to you 
than that semi-apologetic trick which many agents learn. 



152 

There is no room in the business for men who would be only 
"half successful." There is plenty of room not only "near the 
top," but more than half the way down for any man who will ' 
devote himself thoroughly and entirely to 
Devotion to ^-^^ business, determined to throw himself 

heart and soul in it and to "do or die." If 
we only had a little more of that spirit the world would be a great 
deal more progressive and prosperous even than it is — certainly 
it is so in the world of life insurance. The men who are success- 
ful in a large way are the men who throw themselves into what- 
ever they have to do, and never rest until it is accomplished, and 
that is the kind of a life insurance canvasser you want to be. 
Put lots of enthusiasm and personal fire into your work; in 
other words, put lots of yourself into it, if you expect to have 
any effect in moving others. This is the important element of 
success, and counts more than the number of hours you work — 
the extent to which you throw your energy and your devotion 
of all the faculties with which you are gifted. If you do this 
in a large measure your success will be proportionate. 

Confidence in life insurance consists in putting on a "good, 

strong bluff," that you intend to win and then insisting on living 

up to it. There are so few people in this world who really know 

what they want that when the man comes 

Living Up to around who acts as if he did know, we are 

Your uest , ^Q take him at his word, and give him the 

Photograph ^ ,. - , . . ^ , , , 

credit for being m earnest, even though he 

may have been "putting on a bluff" all the time. Confidence 

in your own success is its first requisite. Unless you believe in 

yourself how can you expect others to take any stock in you 

or your proposition? An apologetic air is a defeat in advance. 

Confidence doesn't mean discourtesy. It means self-possession, 

determination to carry out your plans, to get a fair hearing for 

your proposition ; to secure your end when the hearing has been 

granted. An air of success will carry a man through when 

knowledge and experience, not backed by confidence, will leave 

him stranded high and dry on the shores of defeat. 

Life insurance is a business in which so much is done "on 

faith." So much because of the personal magnetism or per- 



153 

suasiveness of the individual agent that in it more perhaps 

than in any other occupation does a man's 
Business reputation in business count for or against 

Pr^f b?e him. Study the needs of your cHents — 

give them always the best of your experience 
— ^never, under any circumstances, misrepresent a line of the 
policy contract. Besides being dishonest, it is very poor busi- 
ness, for it is sure to come back to you some day. Build up a 
reputation for being "square" — for being what is termed 
"straight goods" — it pays better than brilliancy of manner 
without character will pay. This "business character" is a 
profitable thing to possess. Men will say, "Well, if Agent 
Brown says so, it must be so. I took my policy through him, 
and I've never had to regret it." Reputation is built on action. 
Action is founded on character. Therefore be "straight" and 
honest in all your business dealings, and you will soon get the 
reputation of being a safe man to deal with — an invaluable 
recommendation in all matters of a financial nature. 

At a banquet given recently to the superintendents and 
managers of a great life insurance company somebody spoke 
of it as being "a gathering of optimists," and there was a great 

deal of truth in the expression. It was 
■^ilures ' indeed a gathering of men accustomed to 

looking on the bright side of things, for they 
were all the successful men of the organization, and that is one 
of the requisites of success. In agency work, as in all other 
departments of the industrial field, it always pays to cultivate 
this habit. No failure is so completely a failure but it has its 
lessons for future successes if you will only find them. The 
habit of taking everything at its proportionate value and looking 
at the little reverses which come every day in the light of "ex- 
perience-makers" for the future — not as failures of to-day — 
is one of the surest methods known to command success. Such 
men are never discouraged, are never phazed. No disappoint- 
ment or apparent failure affects their progress, because they 
have become accustomed to looking only for the success of 
everything and ignoring the failures. They have become 
"optimists by habit." 



154 

Much can be forgiven the man who is unswervingly, un- 
changeably loyal to his trust. How the world loves the true 
faithful man ! In what terms of honor and respect do they refer 
to him. You remember how highly President Roosevelt spoke of 

Chief Craig, who met his death in the recent 
Loyalty-Success accident in Massachusetts: "He was the 
Go Hand in Hand . . , . , _ , , , „^, 

most faithful man I ever knew. What praise 

could be higher? Loyalty to your company is the first great 

requisite for success. Of what value are ability, tact and all 

the other success-bringing qualities if they are not accompanied 

by a strong, true loyalty to your company and your work? 

Without it they are nothing; with it nothing can stand in the 

way of your success. 

One of the greatest faults of the business man of to-day 

is lack of concentration. He has a good many irons in the fire 

and he is so busy keeping them all hot that he doesn't get the 

_ ^ ^. opportunity to do any real good work with 

Concentration r ,-, -tr ^ ^ ^ ^ i 

any of them. You have two lirst-class irons 

— industrial and ordinary — and if you are going to keep them 

all at the right temperature and secure the results from any 

of them, you will have to watch them all very carefully. It's 

well for a man to have more than one iron — it keeps him from 

letting that one get rusty — from lack of use or spoiled from 

misuse. Put your eggs into two baskets if you will — two you 

can carry — but more you must carry on your head and they 

may trip and throw you. 

One unwavering aim has always characterized successful 

men. As in all other departments of active life this is true, so also 

is it true in industrial insurance. The man with the definite 

^ ^ . ^ purpose, be he agent, assistant or super- 

Definite Purpose y ^^ . \ , f ,. • J • ^ \, . 

^ mtendent, who makes up his mind just what 

he intends to do, and then pursues unwaveringly that course, 

has always been, and always will be, the successful man in this 

business. Whatever your field of industry, throw the whole 

strength of your nature into the work. A man without genius, 

but with earnestness, industry and zeal will succeed, while the 

more talented man is often wondering where to begin. 

An agent who is in dead earnest about his business, and 



155 

who couples with the irresistible power that determination 

of character gives a thorough knowledge of his business and 

• -n ^ faith in his work, cannot help but succeed. 

Eari^st '^^® district will feel his presence right away. 

He won't have to wait for recognition. 
He will soon become prominent among his fellows. The only- 
difficulty will be that in all probability promotion to an assist- 
ancy will come so soon that he will not have a chance to really 
demonstrate the actual possibilities of an industrial agency. 

For it is an actual fact, in the experience of many industrial 
managers, that a new man coming into the business with deter- 
mination and enthusiasm, who brings into play all the powers of 

energy, industry and thought which nature 
Pr(Hnotion ^^^ given him for use, often accomplishes so 

much in so short a space of time that before 
his first year's experience in agency work is complete, his capa- 
city for organization and supervision has been so well demon- 
strated he has promptly been selected to fill an assistancy 
— with the increased opportunities and rewards which this 
position offers. "An agency record of a year and then promo- 
tion " is by no means a rarity — but only merit wins it. 

The lack of "whole-heartedness" in industrial work is 
responsible for many failures. A man who starts industrial 
insurance as a makeshift, who is continually looking around 
„ , . , , to find employment at his trade or in some 

Success other line of business, might just as well make 

up his mind from the beginning that he is 
on the sure track to failure. There is no such thing in this 
business as success by accident. Unless you start determined 
to stay and determined to win there is no real success in store 
for you. 

Don't attempt any other business. If you are making such 
a success in the industrial business that you have plenty of spare 
time on your hands (although you must be a wonder if you have 

accomplished that, for where is the successful 
bticK o 1 e agent whose time hangs heavy on his hands?) 

if you have any time, why not devote it to 
that profitable and gratifying occupation, the pursuit of ordinary 



156 

business? Doing so, are you? Have you written $5000 this 
month? If you haven't, it hasn't been the productive month 
for you that it has been for some people! 

Many men do not appreciate what an important factor in 
successful canvassing is a neat and attractive personal appear- 
ance. While it is true, of course, that "clothes do not make the 
man," still they often make the stranger's 

The Value of estimate of him. In canvassing keep up the 

Personal r . , ^ ^., , 

Appearance appearance 01 prosperity as much as possible. 

It will pay in the end, for people do not like to 
deal with a hungry looking, shabbily clad solicitor. The air of 
prosperity is often the very forerunner of success. Set your 
own value high and strangers will regard you in the same manner. 
The first appeal is to the eye. 

There are two or three little things in which the industrial 
worker may well copy with great profit his brother, the ordinary 
canvasser — the successful ordinary man, of course — nobody 
_,, . wants to copy the other kind. Your ordinary 

of Bu^ness rnan, it will have been observed, if he is a 

successful man, is a busy man — that is to say, 
whether he is busy or not he always gives the impression that he 
is a very busy man indeed, and that his time is^by no means to 
be wasted. The agent should never be seen standing talking idly 
on street comers, and he will not be if he is a conscientious, earnest 
man, intent upon making the most of his opportunities. Let 
him preserve continually an appearance, if nothing more, of 
business and energy. After a time it will become habitual, 
and the effort to appear busy all the time will lead to your being 
so. People love to deal with successful men, and if you impress 
them as being successful they will end by helping to make you 
so. 

After all where does the advantage of a fight come in, for 

everybody almost acknowledges that a good honest fight for 

a good cause is one of the very best disciplines. Certainly 

Tu Tt J. j: J.-L. the advantage does not come in the possession 
The Best of the . ,, ^, . % r.. t, . x xr. ^ • u 
Argument thing fought about, for that is seldom 

in itself worth struggling for. No, it is not 

in that, but it is in two things, the principle which is involved 



157 

and in the effect it produces upon a man's own self, and the latter 
is by far the most important. The battles of life in which every 
man has to enter, are great character tests, they serve to develop 
the latent qualities of the person who is concerned — the powers 
and abilities of a man are developed by opposition and the 
exercise it engenders, just as the muscles of the athlete are 
developed by constant strain and exercise. Moral and intel- 
lectual muscles require precisely the same sort of treatment. 
They require opposition to bring out their good points. The 
industrial agent, therefore, who meets with indifference, 
opposition or other difficulties in the path of his progress m the 
business, should congratulate himself that this is so, rather than 
be in the least cast down by his predicament. Every time you 
"conquer the enemy " of indifference, of opposition to the subject 
of life insurance you make double progress, for not only have you 
made a"step in that especial case, but you have gained just that 
much momentum for the next case. You have gained just so much 
additional power, and the power to write business is the only 
power that you should know anything or care anything about. 
All your efforts should be to get it. 

It is not an uncommon thing at all to hear a new man ask 
his superintendent or assistant: "Now, in canvassing, will you 
tell me just what arguments I shall use in favor of insurance? " 
That is a question that a man need have no 
"Argufying" for fear about until he has to face it, and then, 
t7y ^'^^x "'•j, unless the query be a very intricate one, not 

one man out of ten, if he really believes in life 
insurance himself, will find any difficulty in answering it. 
Don't court argument in canvassing; don't begin it, and avoid 
it if you can; but your prospect will settle that question for 
you. Most men nowadays appreciate fully the value of Hfe 
insurance; they are willing enough to grant all that you have 
to say in its favor. It is the application of the theory that you 
find difficult — the overcoming of the inertia of the individual. 
The persons you are canvassing will advance the subject which 
will lead up to the point of argument. Let your own efforts 
be directed mainly to the single issue of obtaining the applica- 
tion of the individual you are addressing. Let the argument go 
— ^if it's for argument's sake. 



158 



HOW TO PREVENT LAPSES 



"How am I going to prevent lapses?" asks somebody. 
Well, there are several ways, but the best and the surest 
way is, "Don't write them! " The fact is that probably seventy- 

J . five per cent of the business which lapses so 

LaDses " ^ soon after it is written is business which 

should never have been put upon the books. 
It is business which was practically lapsed from the time the 
application was forwarded. Business, some of it, on which not 
a cent has ever really been paid in premiums. Business written 
"to help the agent" — friendly business — business written to 
get a prize — business written on the hope that when the policy 
is actually ready for delivery it will be accepted. It is business 
of that character which turns the superintendent's hair gray and 
makes the question of lapse prevention such an important one 
with all the industrial companies. Business written in this way 
is sure to lapse, and to lapse pretty quickly, too. If you would 
prevent lapses, get right down to the bottom of things and send 
in only first-class, honest business, and you will then be con- 
fronted with nothing but "honest lapses." 

For there are "honest lapses" — lapses caused by genuine 
inability to pay premiums, by desire to use the money for other 
purposes, by the desire to drop the insurance through some 
real or fancied cause for dissatisfaction, and many other reasons. 
Most of these you can meet by tactful argument if you start in 
time before the arrears become too heavy. If you are not able to 
save the business, ask your assistant to help you. That is one 
of his duties, and he will be glad to do it, for he has a financial 
interest in your success, as well as a friendly one. Often his 
work can accomplish the result ^ven after you have failed. 

In some districts superintendents have adopted the rule of 
having all policies in danger of lapsing reported on Thursday 



159 

of each week. The assistant superintendent then calls on the 
holders as soon after as possible and explains 
Inspecting the danger of lapsing — the loss to the policy- 

Business holder and the necessity for keeping pre- 

miums paid up. He is also in this way 
enabled to determine just what the cause for discontinuance of 
premium payment is, and he will frequently be enabled to make 
some suggestion or to advance some argument which will help 
to save the business. The advantage of this plan consists in 
not waiting until the policy has actually lapsed before it is 
inspected, but in taking those precautionary measures which 
will prevent it. The greatest portion of lapsed business, it is 
fair to say, lapses from one of two causes — either inability of the 
insured to continue payments, lack of money, which the agent 
cannot, of course, prevent, or it is due to irregularity on the 
part of the agent — failing to call promptly at the proper time 
each week, and which as a result has left the policyholder in 
arrears, which he found it impossible or inconvenient to cover. 
This, of course, the agent can and should prevent. All these 
things will the assistant discover on his weekly tour of inspection 
aforementioned, and by tactful argument and careful work he 
can save a large proportion of this business which is in danger 
of lapsing. Of course, nothing can save the business which has 
been improperly solicited; the business which should never 
have been put upon the books, and any reform in the matter of 
lapses by any company in any district must of necessity begin 
right with the original application. If these three principles 
were followed in every industrial office there would be little 
complaint from the home offices regarding the "question of 
lapses." 

I . Write only first-class business — the kind that will stay on 
the books — ^not "fake" business nor business 
Prevention ^^^ ^ spurt, but real honest business. 

2. Do not write more business in any one 
family than that family is financially able to pay for. 

3. When the business is issued do not fail to watch it care- 
fully and give it that systematic attention which all business 
demands. If you are an assistant, do not permit your agents 
to neglect such business. 



i6o 

Lapses have often been termed "the bane of the industrial 
business." Certainly, they are indeed the millstone around the 
neck of many an agent who otherwise might be very successful. 

A certain amount of lapse is to be expected, 
"Laoses" ^^^ ^^^ ^^^^ remains that the great majority 

of lapsed business could have been kept in 
force if proper methods had been employed, and this statement 
will be endorsed by many successful industrial men who have 
been through the same experience. 

Advance payments are as effectual a preventative of lapses 
as any plan which can be operated. The business paid in 
advance will not cause any trouble. It is the business which 
, , is constantly in arrears that turns the hair 

A-Q.V3_T1CP 

Pavments °^ ^^® industrial agent an early gray. The 

danger signal of "lapse" is on every week's 
arrears. Keep them down and insist upon advance payments. 
The determination to collect advance payments is half the 
battle. Don't go at the matter in a half-hearted way, but with 
the spirit and energy of conviction that the condition of advance 
payments is the only normal one, and you'll secure them. 
Nor should you be contented to secure your advance payments 
from those whose premiums have already been paid in advance. 
It is the chronic arrears which you are after. Don't forget 
that the fatal word "Lapse" stares you in the face from every 
blank column of your collection book. 

It is not an impossible thing to do away with the item of 
arrears altogether. For several years one sturdy agent in Cen- 
tral Pennsylvania, who had a debit of over $90, was successful 
in maintaining advance payments on every 
Arrears^ ^^ policy without one cent of arrears in all that 

time. Death or genuine inability to continue 
payments sometimes made it necessary for him to lapse business, 
but arrears were not allowed to accumulate on his book. His 
lapses were small, his career as an agent successful and his 
promotion rapid. He now holds an important superintendency 
in one of the large industrial companies, and his motto is, 
"Large collections and advance payments." 

Now and then a Httle wholesome truth "spread thick," is 



i6i 

a good thing to have. Among many agents there has grown 
lately a disinclination to dwell upon the sombre side of life 

insurance. And generally it would seem best 
The Earnestness go^ for the subject of death is at no time a 
In ir^ c cheerful one, but when a lapse is threatened, 

no agent should hesitate to paint in vivid 

and truthful colors the dangers as well as the disadvantages of 

being without insurance. Often this will save the business. 

It always should if the agent is in earnest. 

All the statistics of the business show that the lapse rate on 

industrial policies is greatest during the first year. All the 

superintendents know this, and most of the assistants and agents 

_ have heard it, and yet how few govern their 

Prevent First » ^ o . 

Year Lanses practice according to these facts. As it is 

true that most all the lapses occur during 
the first year of the policy, there is certainly no reason at all 
why you should simply accept this as an interesting statement 
of a regrettable fact and let it go at that. The thing to do is 
to use every ingenious method in your power to protect the 
business, as it were, during its infancy. Don't allow new poli- 
cies to get four weeks in arrears ; have them frequently inspected, 
and devote your energies particularly to showing to the new 
policyholders the folly and danger of lapsing. In this way you 
will create a sentiment and a habit which will tend to keep the 
policies in force in the future, even through adverse circum- 
stances, and thereby add greatly to the progress of the company 
and to your own profit. 

You know that the adherents of the germ theory claim that 
everything in the physical life of a human being is traceable to 
the existence of germs. Not only are these germs of disease, 

but germs of health, just as active, and if the 
Disease^Germs t)ody is kept in first-class physical condition 

the disease germs never have opportunity to 
get in their work, because they are promptly and regularly 
killed off by the health germs before they have a chance to act. 
Whether this be true of medical science or not, it is especially 
applicable to our business. Ignorance, distrust, neglect, 
improvidence, are some of the insidious disease germs that attack 



l62 

the healthy policyholder and sometimes leave himi in a helpless 
and incurable condition. How they originate no one can tell, 
but come they do from somewhere, for some days you are 
confronted with the unwelcome and unexpected proposition 
that "A*s" policy, which you thought a monument of steadfast- 
ness, is going to lapse. You have been curtly informed that 
Mrs. "A" is tired of paying, or that Mr. "A" has other ways of 
investing his money, or there are a hundred other reasons for not 
paying the premium when it is due, but the fact remains that you 
are going to have a lapse on your hands, and whose fault is it? 

This is a case where the disease germ made the attack and 
found the body in a receptive condition. Unfortified by the 
accumulation of vigorous, active health germs, implanted by 
continued counsel and advice on the part of 
th^'Remedv^ the agent, the policyholder, is ready to listen 

to the first objection brought against his 
insurance, and when you attempt to talk you find it frequently 
too late. Does not the fault, however, lie entirely with yourself? 
If you display as great an interest in your policyholder after he 
is on the books as you did to place him there; if you take pains 
to go over frequently with him little matters which arise with 
reference to his policy or to other policies, or the general topic 
of life insurance, or explain to him what the company is doing 
to make its pohcies attractive and profitable to those who 
hold them; if you will take the trouble to send or bring the 
latest literature and the latest information regarding the 
company, treating him as an important, component part of the 
organization, you will not fail to awaken his pride in his policy, 
and his interest to such a degree, that he will regard his insur- 
ance money as a fixed and definite payment which must be 
made at all events, even though something else may have to 
suffer in consequence. 

The great question of lapses is one which confronts not 
only the great companies, but it is felt just as strongly by the 
individual agent — the unit in the industrial system. How to 

. save lapses causes many an agent sleepless 

^ ^ nights and days of worry. And yet the solu- 

tion of this problem lies right in his own hands. In the first 



i63 

place, go through your collection book and if you have any 
cases of chronic arrears sail right in and work to collect from 
them. Make a special effort in that particular direction until 
you either collect or learn that it is impossible to collect, in 
which case get them off your books. Now, watch that same 
collection book carefully and religiously every week, and 
wherever you find a policyholder who is becoming negligent in 
paying, inquire at once into the cause. You may rest assured 
that it is seldom real inability to pay, but probably pure neglect 
or the desire to use the money that week for other purposes or 
other reasons, all of which can be met by tact and judgment 
and the business saved if you are wide awake about it. 

Remember that all the instruction and training in the world 

goes for nothing unless it has as its object the practical securing 

of the application — follow your own methods 

Object of Au j„ j^ iy^_^^ i„„g ^ y„j; ^^^^ ^ ^^,j^„3_ 

In the ability to do this consists the real 
success of the industrial man. 

An agent should never allow a policyholder to become even 

one week in arrears without using every means in his power to 

prevent it. And you will be astonished to learn how much 

. you can do to keep your collections up when 

A^F^a ^ y^^ really go at the matter in dead earnest. 

If your efforts all prove unavailing, however, 
do not drop it there, but call in the services of your assistant; 
often a few words from him expressing his point of view will 
bring the collection and save the business from the danger of 
lapse. The agent who takes care first of all to put none but 
good business on his books, and then watches it closely, so that 
he may be able to check any tendency to arrears in time, and 
follows up with persistency any such cases which may develop, 
will not have to complain of a high lapse rate. 

The first point in favor of high collections, is that it is a sure 
preventative of lapses. A policy can never lapse so long as it 
is paid in advance. Of course it is not always possible to keep 
XT* 1, n 11 • ^ policy paid in advance — the time to save it 
£ La^es ^ then is when it is one week in arrears. The 

best method is to recanvass the insured and 
show them by apt arguments that the object for which the 



i64 

insurance was originally taken exists more decidedly than ever 
— that now the insured has an interest in the policy by reason 
of the premiums already paid, and that each payment of pre- 
mium increases that interest and the value of the policy. 

Sometimes, in cases where several policies are held in one 
family, and financial circumstances may compel them to lapse, 
the agent should try to save some of the policies, even if he has 

to lapse the others — this will give him the 
at Least °°^^* opportunity of calling at the house every 

week, and the subsequent revival of the 
policies will be more easily accomplished. In fact all lapsed 
policies may with profit be followed up each week with the 
object of reviving them, and by thus keeping the importance 
of protection before lapsed poUcyholders a large proportion of 
revivals can be secured — provided, of course, that the business 
was of the right kind to begin with. 



